Anwar, 70, pledged to support top-to-bottom reform of the country after the corruption-plagued ruling coalition that had governed for six decades was dramatically voted out last week.

“Now there is a new dawn for Malaysia. I must thank the people of Malaysia,” said Anwar, 70.

“The entire spectrum of Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, have stood by the principles of democracy and freedom. They demand change.”

Anwar was freed after being pardoned for a sodomy conviction that put him behind bars for three years, but that was widely viewed as trumped up.

Jailed former opposition leader and current federal opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (L) shakes hands with a prison officer while posing for a photo as he speaks to the media after his return home following his release from hospital in Kuala Lumpur on May 16, 2018. // AFP PHOTO

His pardon paves the way for him to dive back into national politics as the presumptive successor to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who — in Anwar’s absence — led the democratic wave that toppled the long-ruling Barisan Nasional(BN) coalition.

The 92-year-old former autocrat Mahathir — who headed BN for 22 years until 2003 — came out of retirement to lead a disparate opposition to an unexpected election victory last week amid rising anger over a massive government corruption scandal.

Mahathir has said he expects to run the government for up to two years during an uncertain transition period but has signalled the reins would be turned over to Anwar, who lost his parliament seat with his criminal conviction.

Barisan Nasional was toppled in part because of deep national disgust with former leader Najib Razak, who stands accused of presiding over the plundering of a state investment fund he established.

Mahathir has barred Najib from leaving the country pending investigations.

But for M.D. Hashim and others like him living in squalor in Bangladesh, the start of the Islamic holy month now serves as a bitter reminder of everything they have lost since being driven from Myanmar in an army crackdown.

“Here, we can’t afford gifts and don’t have good food… because this is not our country,” Hashim told AFP on a barren hillside in Cox’s Bazar district.

The United Nations has described the army purge against the persecuted minority as ethnic cleansing, and thousands of Rohingya Muslims were believed to have been slaughtered in the pogrom that began last August.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled the violence for Bangladesh, where they squat in bamboo and tarpaulin shacks on dirt slopes.

While they acknowledge that they were lucky to escape, now, with food and money scarce and temperatures soaring, Ramadan looms as a source of anxiety for many Rohingya.

Sitting inside a plastic tent on a blazing day, Hashim fondly recalled the simple pleasures that made Ramadan the most exciting time of year in his village.

Each night, friends and family would break the fast together with fish and meat dishes cooked just once a year for the Islamic holy month.

New clothes would be offered and sprinkled with traditional perfumes called “attar” to mark the holiday, he said.

“We can’t do the same here, because we don’t have money. We don’t have our own land. We can’t earn money because we are not allowed,” Hashim said.

The Rohingya are barred from working and more than two dozen military checkpoints restrict them from leaving what has grown into the world’s largest refugee camp.

They rely on charities for everything from food and medicine to clothing and housing materials. Hashim must walk over an hour in the searing heat to reach the nearest market.

– Scorching heat –

He said many young Rohingya were also anxious about giving up food and water amid the scorching temperatures in the camp.

In the past, Hashim relished joining his friends for the annual act of devotion, as they were able to rest in the cool shade of trees between their chores.

“We cannot fast here like we did back in Burma (Myanmar), because it’s too hot. There are no trees,” he told AFP.

“The tarpaulin is hot, and it gets hotter when the sun is beating down. It will be very difficult.”

Even so, Hashim is one of the fortunate ones, able to celebrate with his family. Other Rohingya children will spend Ramadan not just away from home, but alone.

Thousands crossed into Bangladesh without parents or family, either separated in the chaos or orphaned by the violence and disease that defined the mass exodus from Myanmar.

“Unfortunately, it will be their first Ramadan to remember for the wrong reasons,” Roberta Businaro from Save the Children told AFP in Cox’s Bazar.

“They will only have dirt and mud and dust to play with. They will be spending a Ramadan away from their home, from their parents and from their friends.”

The Koran exempts the ill, elderly and others who cannot fast from giving up food and water.

But despite the hardship the Rohingya would not abandon their traditions, no matter how challenging their circumstances, said imam Muhammad Yusuf.

“It will be difficult while the sun is so hot, but we will still fast,” Yusuf told AFP.

Smiling and looking spry in a tailored black suit, Anwar emerged from a Kuala Lumpur hospital where he had undergone surgery for a shoulder problem, giving a thumbs-up to a crowd of journalists before leaving in a convoy of cars without making any public comment.

Officials in Anwar’s political party said he was headed to an audience with Malaysia’s king and was expected to address the public in the afternoon followed by a political rally in the evening.

Anwar, now 70, was granted a royal pardon over a sodomy conviction that saw him jailed for the past three years.

Hie release caps a remarkable reversal of fortune made possible by the unexpected electoral defeat last week of the corruption-plagued ruling coalition that held power for the last six decades.

Anwar cannot directly join the government anytime soon.

He must first be elected to parliament, having been stripped of his seat in 2015 when his conviction on charges of sodomising a young male aide was upheld on appeal, sending him to jail.

That conviction is viewed by many in Malaysia as politically motivated, orchestrated by the previous government in a bid to decapitate Anwar’s rising opposition movement.

His release is likely to add to public feelings of excitement about a new era in the country following the stunning election result.

It sets up a tantalising reunion with his one-time mentor turned nemesis and now ally again — Mahathir Mohamad.

The 92-year-old former autocrat Mahathir had headed the now-ousted Barisan Nasional regime for 22 years until 2003 but came out of retirement to lead a disparate opposition to an unexpected election victory.

Mahathir has said he expects to run the government for up to two years but has signalled the reins would be turned over to the Anwar eventually.

The homemade explosives were all active and ready to be detonated, said Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Rudi Setiawan

“We have found a number of active bombs. Those 54 [bombs] are being disposed [detonated],” Rudi confirmed, adding that the explosives had been stored in 27 containers.

Tri and his wife Tri Ernawati had brought their three children along to their attack on the Surabaya Police headquarters. One child survived and is currently being treated for her injuries.

The bombing followed a string of terror attacks on churches in the East Java provincial capital on Sunday. The family involved Sunday’s bombings are believed to have studied in the same Quran group as Tri and his family.

But Anwar, a leading member of the People’s Justice Party that teamed with former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to oust scandal-tainted premier Najib Razak, also cautioned that “one election does not a democracy make”.

“I always believed in the wisdom of the people and that if we fought hard enough we would eventually prevail,” he told Australia’s Fairfax Media in an interview, adding that a new “golden era” was afoot.

“At a time when democracy is in retreat around the world, I hope that the people of Malaysia have given some hope to people around the world clamouring for their own freedom.”

Anwar was heir-apparent to the premiership until Mahathir sacked him in 1998 and he was subsequently jailed for sodomy and abuse of power.

Now 70, he was imprisoned again in 2015 during Najib’s rule — after making historic gains as the head of the opposition at the 2013 elections.

But in a dramatic turnaround, his party joined forces with his former nemesis to inflict a shock defeat last week on the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, ending its six-decade stranglehold on power.

Mahathir told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday he would be in power for one to two years, before an expected handover to Anwar, who is due to be released on Wednesday.

Malaysia’s king has agreed to pardon him, paving the way for his return to politics.

Anwar said that after working with Mahathir for many years he understands “that he cares deeply about Malaysia and the people of Malaysia”.

“A new partnership was essential to overcome the deeply entrenched, corrupt system that was presiding over Malaysia,” he said, referring to the Najib government.

“Our litmus test has always been supporting the reform agenda.

“So long as there is sincere commitment to these principles, we have always welcomed new supporters. The animosity which preoccupies some observers is not an issue for me.”

‘I never lost hope’

Even while in jail, Anwar said he had detected growing outrage among Malaysians against Najib, who has been accused of involvement in plundering billions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

Najib and the fund deny any wrongdoing.

Anwar said the hardest thing about being in jail was its impact on his family.

“My children were quite young during the earlier period of incarceration and that was a difficult period for them and (his wife, Wan) Azizah,” he said.

“It is pure agony to see your own children struggling because of decisions you made. This time (in jail) it is my children’s children who I missed deeply.

“But as a family, we were in concert that we cannot expect the people of Malaysia to take a risk for their freedom if we ourselves were not prepared to take those same risks.

“As the days and weeks wore on I never lost hope. In fact, even from within the prison cell I sensed that the outrage against a corrupt regime was increasing by the day.”

“The Thai ambassador [in Tel Aviv] was on a business trip in Thailand [during that time],” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Busadee Santipitaks told The Nation.

Her remark followed an Al Jazeera report that Thailand was among 32 countries that have confirmed attendance at the ceremony to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem.

The event, marking the US endorsement of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, triggered anger among Palestinians, which caused protests and clashes resulting in more than 50 Palestinian deaths.

In December, Thailand was among 128 countries that voted in the United Nations General Assembly to support a resolution draft urging the US to revoke its endorsement to Jerasulem as Israel’s capital city.

Therefore, it would have created a diplomatic about-face if Thailand attended the embassy opening in support of the US decision.

Palestinians gathered yesterday for fresh protests along the Gaza border, a day after Israeli forces killed dozens as the US embassy officially opened in Jerusalem. It was the bloodiest day of conflict in the region for years.

Palestinians yesterday marked the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, commemorating the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

Most of the Palestinians killed on Monday were shot by Israeli snipers, Gaza’s health ministry told AFP.

The toll included a baby who died from tear gas inhalation, along with eight children under the age of 16, the ministry said.

At least 2,400 others were wounded in the bloodiest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the 2014 Gaza war.

Meanwhile, the Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv urged Thais in Israel, especially those in Jerusalem and near the Gaza strip, to avoid areas in and around the conflict zones.

The embassy can be reached at 054-6368150, 054-5501141, 054-4318830 and 054-7612272