From Asian Wall Street Journal, 9th June 2000

By BARRY WAIN

(Editor's Note: This is an opinion piece from Friday's Asian Wall Street Journal. Mr. Wain is a Journal reporter.)

Wan Azizah Ismail, the wife of former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, got a warm reception when she visited Indonesia last month. She was received by President Abdurrahman Wahid and Amien Rais, speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly. Mr. Rais denounced Datuk Seri Anwar's treatment as uncivilized and called on the Malaysian government to respect him as a political prisoner rather than a common criminal. Predictably, the Malaysians responded by describing Mr. Rais's comments as inaccurate and offensive, and by saying that he doesn't understand the cardinal principle of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: noninterference in the internal affairs of a member country.

The Indonesians were doing no more than confirming indirectly what has been apparent for some time: Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has violated an unwritten regional code in the treatment of fallen political leaders. The proponent of "Asian values" has offended his neighbors by repeatedly humiliating Datuk Seri Anwar, once his heir apparent. Dr. Mahathir will continue to be treated courteously and correctly in Asean capitals while he remains Malaysia's premier, but he is unlikely to ever again command respect in his own backyard.

Dr. Mahathir's fall is subtle yet dramatic for a man who long paraded as a champion of the Third World and constantly complained about the cultural insensitivity of others. It is no secret that Southeast Asia has a history of leniency toward those who have lost in power struggles. When the Indonesian army in 1965 suppressed an attempted coup blamed on the communists, Maj. Gen. Suharto didn't accede to student demands for President Sukarno's head. Now that his time has passed, Mr. Suharto, who is being investigated for alleged corruption, has a public assurance that President Wahid will pardon him if he is convicted.

Ferdinand Marcos, who had plundered the Philippines for 20 years, was able to go into exile with his wife and family in 1986. Thai military officers who tried to overthrow the government in the 1970s and 1980s were often pardoned later and allowed back into the armed forces. Southeast Asia was frankly aghast when South Korea dealt harshly with two former presidents in 1996, sentencing one to death and another to 22 1/2 years in jail for mutiny, treason and amassing illegal funds.As for Datuk Seri Anwar, the manner in which he was ousted in 1998 has no parallel, according to political scientist John Funston. The then deputy prime minister was dismissed and declared guilty of homosexuality and other sexual misdemeanors by Dr. Mahathir before the courts had a chance to pass judgment. "No leader before this had ever been publicly shamed as Anwar has been, contravening deeply entrenched Malay values against such behavior," says Mr. Funston, a senior fellow at the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

The government's indifference to Datuk Seri Anwar's physical safety, beginning with his being beaten almost to death in a jail cell, aroused sympathy around the world. Even after he was found guilty on four counts of corruption last April and sentenced to six years in prison, many educated Malaysians condemned the legal process rather than him. Although he was hauled back into court to face sodomy charges, which are still being heard, the "Anwar factor" had a major impact on the general election in November.

While the ruling National Front coalition won easily, Dr. Mahathir's United Malays National Organization lost 22 of its 94 parliamentary seats, leaving it with fewer seats than the total held by its coalition partners. Half the Malay community voted for the opposition, in large measure unhappy that Dr. Mahathir had been excessively cruel to his ex-deputy. Their feelings were captured in the image of women in Kelantan state, carrying photos of a battered Datuk Seri Anwar, and weeping.

The backlash against UMNO hasn't persuaded Dr. Mahathir to go any easier on Datuk Seri Anwar, or accede to the demands for reform that he represents. Presiding over the party's annual assembly last month, Dr. Mahathir took time again to attack Datuk Seri Anwar and deny that he had been treated unfairly. As one Internet critic saw it, Dr. Mahathir was merely "continuing the fine UMNO tradition of scandalizing the man in public without him being present to defend himself."

Outside the country, the reaction has been much the same -- if more subdued, for practical diplomatic reasons -- influenced strongly by the circulation of the damming photo of Datuk Seri Anwar and periodic evidence that suggests he is being persecuted. A recent report by four prestigious international legal associations found "well-founded grounds for concern" about the administration of justice in Malaysia in cases "of particular interest" to the government. None interests the authorities more than that of Datuk Seri Anwar.

Dr. Mahathir underestimated the network of friendships that Datuk Seri Anwar has cultivated in Southeast Asia, as well as in North America and Europe. He isn't known only as a representative of the new generation of regional leaders with a vision for more tolerant, pluralistic societies. He also has established contacts deep within various communities -- cultural and religious as well as political.So Philippine President Joseph Estrada could speak of Datuk Seri Anwar as "my friend," in objecting to attempts to discredit him. Former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie also knows him personally. And it should be no surprise that President Wahid, a Muslim cleric, agreed to meet Datuk Seri Anwar's wife, since he no doubt respects Datuk Seri Anwar's Islamic credentials and shares his ecumenical outlook -- even as he cooperates normally with Malaysia.

Dr. Mahathir, age 74 and in office for 19 years, also misunderstood the way the region is changing, moving toward more openness, respect for human rights and representative government -- if slowly. It is no coincidence that the strongest criticism over Datuk Seri Anwar has come from countries that have struggled to overcome authoritarianism and now have access to the freest flow of information. They are the most likely to accept Datuk Seri Anwar's explanation that he is the victim of a political conspiracy to prevent him challenging Dr. Mahathir for the premiership.