When Anwar Ibrahim was ushered into the prayer hall of a mosque in central Kuala Lumpur, after his sacking from the government and the ruling party Umno in September 1998, his supporters could hardly contain their anger and frustration.

They broke the silence and serenity of the house of God with the cry of reformasi and Allahuakbar (Allah is Great). After his release from prison six years later, Anwar's first stop in his first visit to his hometown in Penang, was a mosque where he performed Friday prayers with the local people.

A brief cry of reformasi among a group of supporters was heard when Anwar and his entourage arrived. As he was mobbed by hundreds of curious well wishers on his way into the prayer hall, an aide was heard saying "please keep quiet".

The commotion faded into silence. As Anwar slowly walked past cramped rows of people waiting to shake his hand, they were heard whispering to him "welcome back, Datuk Seri" and "please don't rejoin Umno".

Gone were thunderous cries of reformasi and the furious looks of his supporters.

Particularly noticeable was the absence of tight security control, which is often marked by the heavy presence of Federal Reserve Unit personnel and water cannons.

Although there were truckloads of General Operation Forces personnel stationed at a toll plaza near Butterworth, their presence was merely a crowd control measure rather than a security exercise.

Anwar's entourage even sneaked through a police check point at the toll plaza without being noticed by any of the officers on duty, including a group of police photographers.

New approach

Does this suggest that the fiery reformasi movement is slowly coming to an end and that the nation is truly on its path toward full national reconciliation?

Nothing can absolutely confirm this as Anwar himself is still carefully threading his way through an ambivalent path of political moves.

Although he has made clear his commitment to political reform, with war against graft high on his agenda, his pledge to work beyond the confines of partisan politics contributes much to ambivalence over his future political career.

Neither the opposition nor the ruling party can be assured of Anwar standing by them for perpetuity. As PAS' rising star, Husam Musa, noted, "Anwar is the consummate politician".

Be that as it may, being ambivalent at this moment is perhaps the best choice available for Anwar and the nation. Ever since he walked free after the Federal Court overturned his conviction for sodomy on Sept 2, he has reiterated that he will never look back, but move forward.

He is willing to forgive though not to forget. More importantly, he has vowed to work not for the narrow interests of certain political parties, but for the betterment of all Malaysians.

Anwar has come down hard on the pervasiveness of graft and abuse of power among those holding top positions, and has emphasised the need to endorse good government policies. This has catapulted him to the position of a near statesman, from being a mere icon of opposition politics.

What Anwar can best contribute to the nation is perhaps the unleashing of a new political culture predicated upon constructive engagement between the ruler and the ruled, between the government and the opposition.

This is best captured by the new approach to his post-prison politics. Upon returning from Jeddah on Oct 31, he declared his commitment to a more "cautious and civil political approach", as opposed to the strong and hostile one.

It is in this regard that he offered to discuss with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (photo) ways to combat corruption and eliminate poverty.

In a rare gesture in Malaysia's often competitive politics, Anwar remarked, "I will not have the attitude of being an enemy with anyone. I would like to reduce rancorous exchanges in our politics of enmity."

This new approach may be popular among everyday people, whose rights Anwar claims to champion in his new chapter of political struggle, but the same may not hold true among the political elite in both the ruling party and the opposition.

Calling Anwar a traitor, the three wings of Umno - Youth, Puteri and Women's wing - unanimously rejected any attempt by Anwar to rejoin the party at the recently concluded Umno annual general assembly.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who still wields considerable influence in Umno, maintained that Anwar is a homosexual not fit to become a leader. Even PAS deputy president Hasan Shukri reminded party members not to be overzealous in welcoming Anwar's return to national politics.

People's leader

As the political elites, and the business elite to a large extent, stand at the core of Malaysian politics, any resentment from this group may halt Anwar's return to active politics. As of now, he is renewing his profile as the people's leader and slowly pushing the frontier of Malaysia's controlled but competitive politics.

In his tour around the country during the month of Ramadhan, from a mosque in a predominantly Malay constituency in Selangor to a Chinese assembly hall in Penang, Anwar has reached out to tens of thousands of Malaysians who were eagerly waiting to greet him and to show their support to his struggle.

A school teacher in his hometown Permatang Pauh remarked, "Anwar is truly a champion. I am so happy to see him. Our hope for a better future lies with him."

The tour, however, received scant and sometimes misleading reporting from the government- controlledmedia. Even Anwar's return from Munich, which was supposed to be a major event, was shunned by editors.

This perhaps aptly captures the limits to Anwar's new political, role amidst rising expectation that he will bring about profound political change.

As Anwar is still considering the future path of his political career, his interim political moves have already witnessed the contest between people's power and the elite's power.

To what extent the contest will be "civil and cautious", thus barring the return of the seemingly fiery reformasi movement, however, remains to be seen.

MARZUKI MOHAMAD is a political science lecturer at the International Islamic University Malaysia. He is currently enrolled as a Phd candidate in the Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.