The Moment

He hardly seems the perfect candidate for a Muslim-majority democracy. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim spent six years in jail, charged with corruption and sodomy. Earlier this year, he was again slapped with a sex charge when a male former aide accused the 61-year-old politician of rape. But on Aug. 26 Malaysia's most charismatic politician completed a stunning political comeback by winning a parliamentary seat in a by-election in his home state of Penang. "It's a signal that the people are ready for change, and that they believe only Anwar can make that change," says Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert at Johns Hopkins University.

Anwar's ambitions are about much more than just his own political future. Though a small tropical nation, Malaysia has served as a role model in a region often gripped by authoritarianism and riven by factional strife. It has a proud tradition of electoral politics, relatively smooth transfers of power and an ability to achieve social harmony despite its racial and religious diversity.

Yet in recent years Malaysia has stagnated. Its political structure has calcified, corruption concerns have multiplied and the population is cleaving along ethnic lines. Small wonder that in March Malaysians handed Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's National Front its worst-ever electoral result.

Anwar, who was once a National Front stalwart, says that all charges against him — past and present — are politically motivated. He promises a fresh start, and says he has lured enough defectors from the National Front to bring about the current government's collapse. Nevertheless, Anwar isn't assured a place as Malaysia's next Prime Minister. For one, he still faces trial on the latest sodomy charge, which he denies. And Anwar's political alliance is an unwieldy amalgamation of Chinese patriots, conservative Muslims and reform-minded technocrats. But if Anwar can keep such a disparate miscellany of parties unified, then he might just be the man to rule a new Malaysia.