The Prisoners' Dilemma
Especially given that elections are scheduled for early next year, and Mahathir's popularity is running low, he has every incentive to protect his 18-year-old rule by imprisoning Anwar for as long as possible no matter what he says.
Realizing this bleak fact, Anwar's strategy is the polar opposite of cooperation; in fact, Anwar is attacking Mahathir on the stand for framing him, and making counter-accusations of corruption. In February, Anwar began to tell the tale of a high-level conspiracy against him, including accusations that Mahathir was behind it. "I have never seen such conspiracy and fabrication in this country," he said, detailing his conversations with Mahathir. When High Court Judge Augustine Paul began to strike Anwar's description of these conversations as irrelevant, Anwar responded, "It has to be relevant - it is my life."
Anwar may not be fighting for his literal life (the charges are not capital), but at stake is at least his political life, and at most his freedom, for the rest of his life. Even more than in the Cambodian example, the political ramifications of the choices of the jailers is a vital piece of information in the game. Anwar may sense a weakness in Mahathir, electoral or otherwise, that Hun Sen may not share. Or, perhaps Anwar believes not in Mahathir's weakness, but in his own strength, despite his current position.
In both countries, the prisoners face a classic dilemma. Do they cooperate in a self-serving attempt to keep themselves out of trouble? Or do they refuse their cooperation, knowing that the potential risks, and benefits, are far larger? The Cambodian example, a more "classical" example of the game, indicates that the motivations and aims of the jailers are almost irrelevant, while the Malaysian example seems to demonstrate the opposite, that the end game the jailer is playing is the key to understanding any strategy a prisoner would undertake. In either case, whether things turn out well for the prisoners depends less on any sort of social science game theory, and more on how well individuals can maneuver within a system larger than all its players combined.
Remember, in the prisoners' dilemma game, things turning out well for the prisoners is not the same as things turning out well for society. If the two suspects in the original model were both actually guilty of the murder, their joint silence may be a triumph of cooperative political theory,
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