His arrest and expulsion from government two decades ago sparked the formation of a new party, its "black eye" logo a sober reminder of the battering he received at the hands of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's police chief.

Now, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who has spent eight of the past 20 years behind bars for corruption and sodomy charges, is on the brink of a fairytale ending to his long fight for "Reformasi" that may see him go from prisoner to prime minister.