In the war of ideas - is the opposition bankrupt? This may sound like a damning indictment of Malaysia's opposition politicians but it is really hard to disagree with this statement.

From the radical intolerance of PAS to the shaky single-minded mandate of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) to the utter confusion of DAP, Malaysia's opposition politics is a non-starter barely days away from the next election.

I have been following the elections for the Democratic party's presidential candidate in the US the last few months and I must say that I am impressed with the manner of the elections and the campaigns that some of the candidates have been running. It is a campaign of ideas and promises, of economics, politics, jobs and deficits. They offer a viable alternative government to the Bush administration and this is the very beauty of a mature democracy.

We have been speaking of civil societies, of shared governments and of citizen's rights, but the sad fact is that Malaysia's election is a one party election, the only consideration being how many parliamentary seats the opposition can wrest from the government of the day.

Our elections are racially and religiously divided with the only challenge being a religious populist party PAS, attempting to wrest states with majorities of the religion from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN). Hence the only question is whether PAS can keep Terengganu and perhaps take another northern state like Kedah or Perlis and turn them also into religious hotspots depriving non-Muslims of their rights and freedoms.

Not the M'sian way

Yet the opposition had a great opportunity to create a viable alternate government when Anwar Ibrahim was forced out of Umno. In Anwar, they had a charismatic and able leader, but I strongly believe he was ill advised and chose a path that clearly led to his destruction and the destruction of the only opportunity for an alternate government.

Street demonstrations and marches may be revolutionary and romantic but it is not the Malaysian way. It has changed governments in the Philippines, Indonesia and Africa but those were nations and regions that were structurally different from Malaysia. Their populations were all basically homogeneous and importantly poor. They had bad governments that were totally corrupt and did not benefit the majority of their populations.

We on the other hand are heterogeneous, fairly well off and have a government whose policies have led to a stable country in which the people have benefitted tremendously. Dr Mahathir Mohamad was also a well-respected leader who has done well from the people's perspective, the majority anyway.

This does not mean that the opposition cannot provide an alternative. In fact I find it unbelievable that in almost 50 years of independence we don't even have a real opposition to provide the citizenry with a choice. Our opposition has never been able to even work with each other and yet they expect us to believe that they can form a government. DAP has of course tried to form a government in Penang with their Tanjung I and II efforts, but clearly the people never believed that they could form and run a government.

Likewise, PAS only managed to win Kelantan because of the strong religious background and the simple beliefs of the Kelantanese who abhor western practices and the corruption, actual or perceived, within the Umno-led coalition. They also won Terengganu because Umno basically abandoned the Terengganu people in favour of big business, the oil and gas industry being the major beneficiary of government support. The continued presence of a menteri besar who had gone beyond the expiry date of leadership and a moribund Terengganu state government led to BN's exit in Terengganu.

Opposition in shambles

Even today the opposition is in shambles, and this is the reality that faces the population when they go to the ballot box. What a disgrace! So much could have been done in the last 20 years at least, but while BN has continued to win a two thirds majority and PAS at least has managed to wrest Kelantan and Terengganu, DAP is accused of mediocrity, nepotism and authoritarianism. Keadilan has no policy to speak of other than to free Anwar while the party that had merged with it - PRM - has never won a single seat in its history.

Yet I still hold out hope for an opposition and the man who can probably lead it is Anwar. However it is not the Anwar we know now, who is angry with the establishment, who leads protests, who screams at the judges who hear his cases or the Anwar who seeks to get out of jail by requesting treatment in a foreign country. It is not the Anwar who has the black eye and who blames Mahathir for falsely jailing him. No, that Anwar will never be an alternative to Umno.

The Anwar that can lead a true opposition has to be a statesman, who accepts that he is a political prisoner, who speaks softly to his jailers and judges and asks them to seek the truth and the Anwar who wants to be a martyr and will remain in jail until his release always believing that he is innocent but one who does not blame his jailers.

He must be a Nelson Mandela and when he is finally released, he must not seek vengeance nor shout 'reformasi', but he must seek reformation through the ballot box and through a manifesto that offers an alternate government, with policies that are based on human rights, jobs for all, benefits for the poor and infirm and of a clean honest government.

Mandela spent far more years in jail and suffered far more at the hands of his jailers than Anwar ever will, yet he had the grace and character to rule South Africa justly and fairly and never took revenge on his jailers. The amazing thing is that he can still smile and dance and create such harmony within a deeply divided and distrustful nation.

Anwar must create an opposition that consists of all races and religions, with a place for everyone. He must run a professional organisation that consists of able, visionary and honest men and women without fear or favour, without nepotism and cronyism. He must be humble. He must show the people that he can and indeed will lead the nation in the interests of everyone, whatever race or creed.

Most importantly he must forgive. He must forgive his enemies and his jailers and most of all he must forgive Mahathir.

Perhaps I am just a sentimental fool, but I sincerely hope that one day Malaysia will have a real opposition as all democratic nations must have. The people must also be mature enough to accept that there can be two parties who can rule Malaysia, and a win for one is not cause for revolution but one of celebration, the celebration of democracy. Then again perhaps I am only being a sentimental fool with a dream that will never come true.