Malaysia's highest court yesterday crushed hopes of an early political comeback by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim when it refused to hear a new appeal against his conviction for corruption.
Anwar has already served his six-year sentence for corruption but will be barred from active politics until 2008 under regulations governing convicted criminals.
The charismatic politician, who was once widely expected to become prime minister, was freed from prison earlier this month when the Federal Court overturned his separate conviction and nine-year sentence for sodomy.
But the court said yesterday it was not prepared to review its 2002 decision to reject his appeal on the corruption charge, which accused him of abusing his power to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct.
Judge Alauddin Mohamad Sheriff said the three judges were unanimous in finding that there was no merit in Anwar's application for a new appeal.
"By introducing new evidence it is an attempt to reopen the issue which has been conclusively settled. It is clear abuse of the court process. If this is allowed it will create chaos in our legal system," he said.
Anwar's political future has been the subject of intense debate since his release from prison. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Tuesday that the ruling party's supreme council had barred him from rejoining the party.
"The door for entry into UMNO [the United Malays National Organization] is closed for now," Abdullah told reporters.
The decision ended speculation that Anwar would try to resume his political career within the party of which he was vice president before being jailed in 1998.
He himself has pressed to continue seeking reform but not specified any political ambitions.
Anwar's only option now is with the opposition, which was routed in March elections by the UMNO-led National Front coalition. He will be able to stand in the next elections, due by March 2009, unless they are called early.
Amwar's lawyer Karpal Singh told reporters the legal process was finally over and Anwar's only chance of an immediate return to public life was to ask the king for a pardon.
As deputy prime minister Anwar had been expected to take over the leadership of the country before being sacked by the then-premier Mahathir Mohamad on Sept. 2, 1998, when the two men fell out over economic policy during the Asian financial crisis.
Analysts say that if UMNO, which has been in power since independence from Britain in 1957, maintains its ban on Anwar's membership his dreams of one day becoming prime minister are finished.
"I am not ruling out his political future, but Anwar cannot be a prime minister if he is not in UMNO and UMNO president," said Shamsul Amir Baharuddin of the National University of Malaysia.
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