Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Selangor has unanimously agreed to nominate former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim for the post of party president.

Anwar is currently the PKR advisor while his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is president.

In a statement today, PKR Selangor secretary Mohd Nazmi Rosli said the decision was reached during a meeting over the weekend.

PKR Selangor has also called for veteran politician Dr Syed Husin Ali to be retained as deputy president.

Nazmi said PKR divisions in Selangor will move a resolution during the national congress at the end of May in Negeri Sembilan to express gratitude to Wan Azizah for her eight-year contribution to the party.

The resolution will also urge the leadership to provide her with a meaningful role in the party, he added.

The proposal will pave the way for Anwar's return to full-time politics. However, he is still barred from assuming the post as the ban against him on active politics will only expire in April next year.

PKR was formed in 1999 at the height of the reformasi movement following the sacking of Anwar from all his government posts by then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Subsequently, he was convicted for corruption and sodomy. He served six years in prison before being released in 2004, after the Federal Court upheld his appeal against the sodomy conviction.

Anwar has always maintained that the charges against him were false and were part of a conspiracy authored by Mahathir and his cohorts to oust him from power. However, this has been denied.

Appeal to ROS

Since his release, the former Umno deputy president has also quashed speculations of returning to his old party which is now under the stewardship of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Anwar, who is renowned for his impeccable oratory skills, has been actively touring the nation and speaking on numerous public interest issues.

However, elections laws prohibit him from returning to active politics until after April 2008 in view of his conviction.

The ban took effect from the day Anwar completed his first sentence on April 15, 2003. His second sentence - on sodomy - has not been taken into account as this was quashed by the court.

This morning, PKR information chief Tian Chua told malaysiakini that the party will appeal to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to waive the ban so that Anwar can assume the post of president as soon as possible.

"As far as PKR is concerned, Anwar is innocent (of all the charges). The ban is by the government, it is not a PKR matter," he said

Observers note that with Anwar at the helm, it will help boost the opposition party's performance in the coming general elections.

Despite his unceremonious exit from power, the charismatic politician still commands a sizeable support base, especially among the Malay electorate.