COMMENT | So the dust settles on the Umno-led win in Malacca and the cheers of their supporters calling out the name of the convicted felon from Pekan ring in our ears.

Malaysian politics is much more personality-based than it should be and I’ve often been pegged as an Anwarista because I think we need a popular Malay-led multi-racial party and he was the only one in our history who delivered that.

I was part of the crowds that came out to support Anwar Ibrahim on three occasions each a decade apart – in Reformasi in 1998 when it was in solidarity with his arrest and beating, in 2008 when he was the star performer as the opposition swept five states and he briefly threatened to take Putrajaya.

And most of all, in 2018, when my heart was full of joy as I was among the thousands who greeted him at Padang Timur when he was freed from prison.

Certainly on sentiment, I feel bad giving up on someone who spent 10 years in jail and there is no doubt in my mind, the man has been cheated out of victory on a number of occasions.

But he also cheated himself through poor choices and lousy gambles – and by extension, he has also...