Book Review : The Evolution of a Muslim Democrat
The Evolution of a Muslim Democrat: The Life of Malaysias Anwar Ibrahim. By Charles Allers. New York: Peter Lang, 2013. 345 pp.
Any attempt at offering a biography of Malaysias enigmatic politician Anwar Ibrahim (b. 1947) will be intriguing for many reasons. Perhaps more than any other political igure in contemporary Malaysia, Anwar has led a life whose vicissitudes have seen him oscillating from high points popular student irebrand, social activistintellectual, rising star of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), handpicked protg of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (b. 1925), minister and deputy prime minister, right down to the lowest points that one can imagine twice an Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee, convict stripped of human dignity, constantly excoriated opposition leader and purported hypocrite accused of heinous sexual crimes unbecoming of a professed Muslim holding leadership aspirations in religiously conservative Malaysia. Harnessing information from variegated sources, including personal interviews and published analyses of Malaysian politics and of Anwar Ibrahims diverse roles in it, The Evolution of a Muslim Democrat should be commended for ably capturing the different and even contrasting nuances of Anwars political life.
Far from being a blatantly lattering portrayal of Anwar Ibrahim as a consummate political leader once touted to be Malaysias Prime Minister in waiting, Allers account does not refrain from detailing episodes of Anwars political career that have exposed him to allegations of inconsistency, opportunism and unprincipled politicking. One example is Anwars alleged compromise on money politics during his days of ascendancy in UMNO, culminating in the victory of his Wawasan (Vision) Team of which present Prime Minister Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin were members in the fractious party elections of 1993. While employing analyses proffered by scholars critical of Anwars having indulged in patronage politics such as K.S. Jomo, Edmund Terence Gomez and Kikue Hamayotsu, Allers balances his account by citing
the analyses of Peter Riddell, Meredith Weiss and Khoo Boo Teik, among others, all of whom are inclined to offer mitigating factors in explaining Anwars antics in exculpatory terms.
Another instance of vacillation in Anwar Ibrahims political posture that Allers chronicles is his position on the draconian ISA, which had authorized detention without trial since its inauguration in 1960. Quoted in 1992 having defended the selective retention of the Act, Anwar remained mute for the large part of Prime Minister Mahathirs recurrent instances of recourse to the oppressive legislation. These instances resulted in gross violations of human rights, as during the Operation Lallang round-up against civil rights campaigners in 1987 and the governments clampdown on the Darul Arqam dakwah (missionary) movement in 1994. Only when out of power, and after undergoing the traumatic experience of both preventive and judicial incarceration from the time of his post-sacking arrest in 1998 until 2004, did Anwar unwaveringly oppose the ISA. For the record, Prime Minister Najib Razak eventually announced the repeal of the ISA in September 2011, but replaced it the following year with the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act of 2012.
Just prior to Operation Lallang, Anwar in his capacity as minister of education and with the backing of the chauvinistic UMNO Youth then led by Najib Razak also clashed with proponents of Chinese-medium education who resented what they regarded as Anwars unwarranted intrusion into their affairs. Such dabbling in ethnocentric politics, which diehard Anwar supporters would rationalize as a means of winning over the grass-roots Malay-Muslim support necessary for political advancement in UMNO, remains a black spot in his career. That career has featured an otherwise inclusive appeal to harmonious ethno-religious relations in the manner of convivencia in medieval Spain. The question of Anwars mixed history of yielding to pragmatic politics aside, Allers gives prominence to pluralism as a major aspect of Anwars religio-political thought that has gained credence globally, especially since his heavy-handed treatment by Malaysias ruling establishment after 1998. Amidst the trials and tribulations that have befallen Anwar as a political
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Book Review : The Evolution of a Muslim Democrat