Every day for the past three years she has carried out her duties as the leader of Keadilan (the National Justice Party), formed from the mass movement which had opposed Anwar's prosecution and jailing on corruption and sodomy charges, focused on the goal of securing Anwar's release from a jail sentence of 15 years.

'My presence always will remind people of my husband,' the eye doctor-turned-politician told the Sunday Morning Post, sitting in the dining room of the couple's large house in a leafy and expensive Kuala Lumpur suburb.

The sounds of a young family playing and moving around the house at night drift into the room, a poignant reminder of six children - the oldest studying at university and the youngest a primary school pupil - who can only visit their father in jail once a week.

It was in 1998, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis which had brought political tensions to the surface and as street protesters called for reformasi (reform), that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad sacked his deputy and branded him a homosexual after a rift developed between the long-term leader and his former protege.

A wood panel from the front door is still missing, replaced with a board, where Dr Azizah said special branch police had sought to smash the door open when they came to arrest Anwar. The house was filled at the time with supporters and journalists, she said. A smashed glass window is patched up with a piece of wood, reminders of a night when the Anwar family's life changed forever.

Now, appeals before the court are nearing their conclusion and, if they ultimately fail, Dr Azizah grimly says there will be another nine years behind bars for Anwar and his family to 'contend with'.

In the meantime, she is seeking to keep the flame burning and the issue alive. However, her demeanour and the opposition's flagging fortunes - coinciding with a changed political environment after the terror attack on the United States last year - indicate it is proving a trial for Dr Azizah.

Asked whether she had experienced doubts over her role and if her continual presence on the political scene - she is an MP - may have made it more difficult for the ill Anwar to be quietly released, she sighs loudly.

'I haven't had much time to reflect on that. There are too many things to do,' she said, looking around the room.

'It does give a continuation to that [the past public support for Anwar] and a political entity,' she said, adding the party was formed when authorities indicated they would not tolerate continuing large demonstrations.

Dr Azizah and Anwar's supporters sought to translate the spontaneous mood from the streets into a party to 'take part in the democratic process'.

'I think if it was just the trial, after the sentence, the appeal then it would be over because he would conveniently be out of the public eye,' she said. 'My presence always will remind people of my husband given my non-involvement [in politics] before. But now this is to remind that Anwar is there.

'I don't think he will fade away in the sunset . . . because of me, I would like to think so, because of the party itself and because of the movement itself.'

She also did not want the former finance minister's role in Malaysia's economic growth and prosperity to be overlooked.

The Malaysian Government is clearly hoping the Anwar issue will be forgotten as time drags on.

A senior official of the United Malays National Organisation and financial adviser to the Government, Mustapha Mohamad, said they had experienced some problems but had sought to explain the Anwar issue.

'Anwar was a popular figure in Malaysia and abroad. This thing happened very quickly and people could not understand why he had to go the way he did,' Dr Mustapha said.

'People now understand that he was properly tried and convicted. Some people are not happy with the result but we are a sovereign nation. Life has got to go on and many people are beginning to forget this episode.'

Dr Mahathir, when asked at a press conference about Anwar's treatment, said Westerners had trouble accepting he had been found guilty by courts and seemed to believe Asians did not understand human rights. He then launched into criticism of Western values in relation to Asian views.

When Dr Mahathir opened a special conference of foreign ministers from Islamic nations to discuss terrorism this month, he said some freedom fighters who had been struggling against oppression had been mistaken for terrorists.

Among the names he listed was that of Nelson Mandela, the former African National Congress leader who was jailed by the apartheid government of South Africa but later became president.

Asked whether she viewed Anwar in the same way as Mr Mandela, Dr Azizah said: 'Maybe. Many people come up to me and say, 'I feel it in my bones that he will come up one day and lead the country'.

'For me, in my position, we want to serve the people. I would want to think that I am here actually to make sure my husband . . . For me, he knows that,' she said, emotion overcoming her ability to speak clearly.

As to whether she could ever envisage becoming prime minister, Dr Azizah replied: 'I am sorry, it never crossed my mind.'

Refer to women who have taken on political roles in Asia such as democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and she laughs in an embarrassed way: 'No, no, no.'

Dr Azizah is clearly not a polished political player and while she comes across as a sincere and genuine person, the demands of fighting a very public battle, which also sometimes requires a tough approach, do not seem to fit comfortably.

There is speculation in conservative Malaysian circles that the role has been pushed on her by Anwar and she has little choice but to comply - as well as staying with her husband rather than seeking a divorce - as a devout Muslim.

As the coalition of opposition parties, which includes Keadilan, seeks to overcome a recent swing of support back to the ruling National Front grouping of parties, Dr Azizah said they were trying to develop a new strategy to counter government tactics.

She accused the Government of seeking to use concerns about terrorism against its political opponents, an alliance which has seen Dr Azizah's party join with the conservative Muslim party Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS).

Political analysts say the opposition, which initially benefited from a voter backlash against the Government's handling of the Anwar case, has suffered from PAS's call for a jihad against the United States over the war in Afghanistan.

Voters, concerned about a possible rise of fundamentalism, are said to be returning to support the ruling coalition. The initially strong support for Dr Azizah's party appears to be deteriorating.

'After September 11, things changed and the Government has effectively used fear and terrorism and the label of being an extremist and all this violence on the streets. To me, if he [apparently referring to Dr Mahathir] says that we are prone to that, why did they assault Anwar,' she asked, referring to the infamous black eye inflicted by a senior police officer.

Glenn Schloss is a staff writer for the Post's news desk