Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim has been freed from jail, paving the way for his return to politics.

Anwar was jailed for sodomy and corruption. The 70-year-old began serving a five-year sentence in February 2015 after the Malaysian high court upheld his conviction and sentence on a charge of having sodomised a former personal aide, Channel NewsAsia reports.

Anwar was jailed in Sungai Buloh Prison and was scheduled to be freed on Jun 8. He has spent the last few months in hospital recovering from a shoulder operation.

Anwar’s release is the first big success of the newly elected governing coalition, Pakatan Harapan, led by 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad.

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