For many Malaysians, the recent resignation of Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as member of parliament for Permatang Pauh and as opposition leader of the parliament, paving the way for her husband and de facto leader of PKR, Anwar Ibrahim, to contest in the same constituency and to be elected to parliament in the next sixty days may appear to be an expected news.

Hence, many were not the least surprised at such an announcement by Wan Azizah.

However, this is not merely another step forward for Anwar Ibrahim to get into parliament. Anwar Ibrahim is not an ordinary leader. He is now steering the course and the process of democracy in this country and the future of its sustainability depends very much on the victory of Anwar Ibrahim in Permatang Pauh.

The voters in this fabulous constituency have become ridden with surprises and shocks. First, it was the husband under the banner of Umno/BN and then it was the wife under the banner of PKR and now it is the husband again but under the banner of PKR/Pakatan Rakyat.

Why is this by-election so important?

Firstly, this by-election will clearly decide on the future course of democracy in this country. It is going to decide if the people of this country - who should decide on how the government machinery should benefit them - will make a hallmark in history by saying it is 'democracy of the people, for the people and by the people'.

Or will it be like before, in the hands of a few powerful people in BN and in the business community, who would continue to use the democratic process for their own interests and their families' and their extended families'.

Subsequent to the results, Anwar Ibrahim’s indispensable presence in parliament will mean a ‘people-centered’ parliament for all and for posterity as well.

Secondly, this election is going to determine once more the relevance of our constitution based on the separation of powers of the judiciary, the legislature and the executive and also the distinct role of the Rulers.

Anwar Ibrahim’s presence in parliament in the next sixty days is going to make a lot of difference. The government will have to act on the recommendations of a royal commission on the behaviour of the judiciary which involved the exposing of the videotape clip of VK Lingam by Anwar Ibrahim.

It simply means the judiciary will have to be rehabilitated to the days when we excitedly awaited for the submission and thence the judgement of world famous judges like the late Eusoffe Abdoolcadeer, Ajaib Singh and Fred Arulananthom. We would be looking forward to seeing someone holding the reins of the judiciary like the late Mohammed Suffian.

Only Anwar Ibrahim can steer back this honour to our country and it is only him who will ensure the viability of this nation-state as having a comparable judiciary to that of Australia’s and to the UK. The rule of law cannot anymore be manipulated by people like VK Lingam. It has been so shameful for all of us the way the judiciary has behaved.

Thirdly, the impact of globalisation has become felt by almost everyone in this country. More and more manufacturing firms are leaving Malaysia for cheaper destinations like China and Thailand. Our wage rates are said to be high even without having a minimum wage rate.

The human resources ministry does not have a research centre which can provide indicators on wages, wage increases and of workers and professionals industry by industry. After the head of research - one Sivananthiram - had left the ministry, the division was completely disbanded.

We need to revive research and development in many areas to find exactly where we stand in competition with other nations like China and India. Universities must gear up their research and inform people of the actual scenario. Malaysians need to be informed by experts and not by some Umnoputras.

As the world economy stands today at US$60.3 trillion, Malaysia’s share is only 0.03 percent. The US alone holds US$12.5 trillion dollars of the world economy and the BN government cannot develop a good relationship with the US.

Anwar Ibrahim is only hope for us to revive our relationship with the US, EU and the developing world. As we open up more markets for our workers, we will see foreign investments coming back and huge factories and plants providing good jobs and good pay to our workers.

This election at Permatang Pauh is going to make so much of difference for so many people. Anwar Ibrahim has to be elected. There is no other choice.

Fourthly, people who have enjoyed the benefits of power for far too long are now looking in askance about their own fate. Anwar Ibrahim is going to tell them, there is only one way out - earn a living.

Thousands of people, their families, their extended families and their relationships in China, Mongolia, Indonesia and in many other countries are suddenly going to find themselves in limbo. This nation is not going to feed these ‘free-beneficiaries’ any more than they have benefitted from the hard work of thousands of Malaysians.

Malaysians are now going to be on the receiving hand of their own toil. They will enjoy the benefits of their own hard work. Anwar Ibrahim will make it happen in the next sixty days.

Fifthly, lots of institutions such as the commercial banks, which make telephone call after telephone call on the poor man who may owe a few thousand and threaten him with legal action by sending an SMS at 12 midnight will have to be scrutinised if they do not do the same to those who have borrowed millions of ringgit and have not paid even one good installment.

Bank CEOs who make millions per year, while their tellers make less than RM2,000 ringgit must be scrutinized. Anwar Ibrahim will look into the fair-play of hard work and fair-play of equitable wages.Who works and who earns?

This will cut across all industries whether be private or public if this organisation Malaysia is set to achieve the goals of efficiency, effectiveness, adaptiveness, development and above all survival.

The nation is going to see a tremendous change in its mindset and a new paradigm is to be in place in the next sixty days. I will urge all Malaysians who look forward to a great and prosperous future for this country and to set their minds and go to Permatang Pauh and ensure the victory of Anwar Ibrahim.