Having worked closely with Anwar Ibrahim for the past 23 years, he won two seats (one in the legislative assembly and one in Parliament) at the last election.

As one of several vice presidents of People’s Justice Party (PKR) in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, he is positioning himself within the party to become its deputy leader and perhaps future deputy prime minister. This despite the fact that he has, for the most part, avoided the spotlight, opting instead to be the quiet support act in the Anwar Ibrahim roadshow.

As a result of the Asian economic crisis of 1997, the value of the ringgit plunged by 40 percent against the US dollar in early October and  the Malaysian stock exchange in Kuala Lumpur suffered a resulting dramatic downturn. The contentment of the people with  this downturn had an effect not only financially, but also socially.

Anwar, then the country’s finance minister and deputy prime minister who had presided over a successful two month term as acting prime minister during Mahathir’s leave of absence that year, embarked on a series of dramatic reforms to the economy in an attempt to pull the country out of the deepening crisis.

These reforms, proposed initially by the IMF, included liberalizing the economy to allow greater foreign investment, a massive cut in government spending, and significantly, the scrapping of major infrastructural development projects, championed by Mahathir.

This decision provoked a rift between Anwar and Mahathir and the other measures, some of which did not have a significant effect, saw calls from the Malaysian public for Mahathir’s resignation. Whilst Malaysia’s recovery was more rapid than some other countries in the region, its economy still shrank by 6.5 percent during 1997-1998.

The fallout from the breakdown of this hitherto close political partnership is now well known: Anwar was tried for some quickly hashed together charges of corruption and then sodomy and sent to prison.

Ali was not immune as the quiet supporter, either. He too was sent to prison for lying to the court during Anwar’s trial.  

Now the leader of the opposition coalition, Anwar is hoping to take power when an election is held within the next two years.

We sip our drinks and turn to the matters at hand: How can a party who has never been in power before possibly hope to wrest power from a biligerant UMNO and build a stable, new government whilst turning around decades of endemic corruption which seems only to be worsening (in a 2007 poll on corruption in Asia, Malaysia had dropped from third to sixth in terms of the level of corruption)?

After returning from the US, where he had completed his university studies, Ali was offered a position within the office of  Anwar, then education minister. The relationship has been firm ever since.

At the time of Anwar’s trials, he stuck by him and testified in his favor. Not only was this futile, but it cost him his own freedom as he was sent to prison for lying to the court.

Having spent much of the past 10 years in and out of prison, Ali contended in two separate seats in the 2008 elections.

He won both, while his party came close but was unable to take power. With an election in under two years and Anwar’s coalition looking a good chance to win, what does Ali believe are the keys to wresting power this time around?

“…The major challenge is how to break the control and manipulation of the media by the ruling
parties. ”

Indeed, the strict control of the media by the current government was perfected by former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who has, in a sublimely ironic twist, fallen foul of his own media laws since retiring in 2003 and starting up a blog, which has been critical of the government headed first by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and now Najib Razak.

Evidently, however, unbiased information is difficult to come by for most Malaysians without internet access, which remains low, even in Kuala Lumpur.

“Notwithstanding this, we are also focusing energy on getting the support on the younger generation of Malaysians… I’ve seen the younger generation led on by the propaganda of the UMNO administration.”

There are about 4.5 million eligible voters who have not yet registered with the election commission, which represents a large potential poll boost for the party who can convince them first to register and then to vote for their party.

This may prove difficult, but Ali says the PKR is actively trying to entice young people and those who’ve slipped through the electoral net to register their vote.

As is the wont of politicians seeking to engage with younger people, the PKR are seeking to “speak with them through new media”.

For Ali, Facebook and Twitter are the key to electoral gains within this important demographic.

And what would a party who has never been in power do to the relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia?

“Strengthen the bond between Indonesia and Malaysia not only because we are close physically and economically, but because of much deeper ties: we share a great deal of history and a language as well as having close cultural links I would categorize this relationship as one of the most important in the region.”

Ali is clearly keen to highlight the degree to which the strong ties between the two countries will remain robust and indeed strengthen even more greatly under a new political arrangement in Malaysia.

A wise move: The support of neighboring countries, and particularly that of Indonesia, will be pivotal to any successful new government in Malaysia.

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