1. No instigating the crowd by questioning the Perak sultan's decision
   
   
2. No mention of the Altantuya issue must be made
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. No racial and religious issues can be raised
   
   
4. PKR must ensure that the crowd at its ceramah is confined to the area where the event is being held.

On the other hand, PAS, whose candidate Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin is contesting for the by-election, has not been restricted from raising these issues.

It is learnt that PAS was only told to stop their ceramah by 11pm so that it would not be a disturbance in the kampung areas.

The Altantuya issue has been used by the opposition, especially the PKR, to implicate Najib in the death of the Mongolian national, a charge which the Umno politician has repeatedly denied.



And as in previous election campaigns, several posters of Altantuya and Najib have already found its way to Bukit Gantang.

Altantuya Shaariibuu's remains were found scattered in a jungle reserve in Shah Alam, Selangor on Oct 19, 2006.

Two special elite policemen who are bodyguards to VIPs including Najin are facing murder charge, of which a decision is expected early next month.

At the same time, the opposition has also been highlighting the manner in which Perak Umno, led by Najib, had ‘stolen' the state government from Pakatan. They have also questioned the manner an Umno man was named as the new menteri besar.

Subsequently, Mohd Nizar refused to step down as menteri besar after he was ordered to do so by the Perak sultan, a move which had earned him the reputation of committing derhaka (treason) against the sultan.

Meanwhile in Bukit Selambau, it is learnt that one of the restrictions imposed on political parties was that all ceramah must be held indoors.

• Kenapakah Isu Altantuya diharamkan?
  
  
• Manakah logiknya.
  
  
• Kenapa begitu sensitif hingga polis terpaksa mengambil tindakan sedemikian?
  
  
• Siapakah yang memerintah polis lakukan sedemikian? Najib?
  
  
• Kenapa tidak boleh disebut sebut nama Altantuya?
  
  
• Adakah pihak Polis menyokong pembunuh Altantuya lakukan kegiatan membunuh Altantuya? Atau berhasrat menutup kes ini?
  
  
• Dimanakah letaknya human right dikaca mata polis, dimanakah letaknya hak kemanusiaan yang dilaung laungan di perlapisan dunia?
  
  
• Kenapa Polis tidak menjaga keamanan negara malah menganggap isu Altantuya lebih penting dari segala?
  
  
• Bukan mainnya, rakyat semakin sangsi atas kecekapan polis, tapi polis bagai TAIKOH uang diiktiraf oleh kerajaan UMNO/BN.
  
  
• Dimanakah letaknya sistem demokrasi berpalimen Malaysia. adakah Polis ingin jadikan Malaysia sebagai POLICE STATE?
  
  
• Bilakah polis diwartakan sebagai pernaung bangsa dan negara?
  
  
• Adakah isu Altantuya boleh menghasut polis? Setahu rakyat polis hanyalah berhak menjaga keamanan dan ketenteraman negara, tapi bukan penyekat kebebasan bersuara.

Pihak polis tidak menghormati kebebasan bersuara, takut isu Altantuya dijadikan sebagai isu sensitif yang boleh menghasut ketenteraman masyarakat.

Adalah wajar pihak polis harus mengkaji undang undang sebelum mengistiharkan apa apa syarat syarat diperkenanakan?

Jangan memperbodohkan rakyat, namun rakyat memang mempunyai hak untuk mengetahui perkembanagan politik negara.

Selagi polis tidak menghormati hak rakyat, rakyat tidak akan menghormati polis. itu lah keadilan sejagat yang diwariskan oleh demokrasi.

FROM HANTU LAUT

Sacrilegious?

Read here

I can understand not to mention or ridicule the Sultan of Perak decision on the Perak crisis but why would mentioning Altantuya name is now considered sacrilegious.

If the Home Ministry acted on this just to carry balls of the new PM than it certainly is not good news for Najib and UMNO. Not a good move at all.

Anwar Ibrahim and the oppositions can say umpteen times her name and till kingdom come, if he is innocent he should not worry.

He should take them to the cleaners, otherwise, it wouldn't stop.

FROM ANCIENT MARINER BLOG

APRIL MONKEYS

In the run-up to the April 7 by-elections, the opposition is now barred from bringing up a number of controversial issues including the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu in their electoral campaign.

This was announced by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, probably as his last hurrah if he cannot make it into incoming premier Najib's "dream team". (Read the Malaysiakini report, here).

This must really take the cake especially since the poor dead woman's name is now already well known in every town and kampung in this country.

My old classmate Dr Nik Azam in Kelantan writes of his kampung coconut plucker who has named his female monkey "Altantuya" and happens to be a staunch "dacing" or BN supporter.

Not to be outdone, his only business rival in the same kampung who is a "bulan" or PAS supporter has named his male monkey "Razak Baginda".

Now what will our men in blue make of this?

"Umno Youth openly and directly endorsed corruption.

They picked as their leader someone who was found guilty of using money and other inducements in his effort to get elected as the head of Umno Youth.

Never before has a person who has been acknowledged as corrupt by the party disciplinary board, by the party and the public being elected and hailed as the leader.

The punishment meted on this person is inadequate and unfair because others found guilty of a similar offence were barred from contesting

UMNO Youth has sullied the image of the party and the Malays. It appears that money is more important than one's race and country.

The PM should not talk about rejecting corrupt leaders because his son-in-law who is corrupt has been given special treatment.

This episode will further erode the people's confidence in Umno."

MCA Youth is relieved that Umno Youth has handed over the keris that was the centre of the keris-waving controversy to its outgoing chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein for personal safekeeping.

MCA Youth national chairman Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said that Hishammuddin’s kissing of the keris yesterday at the Umno general assembly could not be likened to his brandishing of it at the 2006 assembly.

“Although Umno Youth could not omit the keris ceremony during their assembly, Hishammuddin understood the consequences of waving the keris and had conducted it in a more understated manner to express his love for his culture. He has shown that he is concerned about the feelings of all Malaysians,” Dr Wee said in a statement yesterday.
(The Star, 26 March 2009)

The RAHMAN prophesy is reaching its last leg of its prediction with the letter "N" .

1. Tunku Abdul Rahman was the first Prime Minister from 1957 to 1970. Abdul Razak was his deputy. Tunku Abdul Rahman was forced out of UMNO and had to resign from office as a result of a concerted push by the UMNO “young turks” led by his deputy, Abdul Razak after the May 13 1969 riot. There was bad blood and much acrimony in the departure of Tunku Abdul Rahman
   
   
2. The FIRST fulfillment of RAHMAN prophesy “A” , was achieved in September 1970 with the appointment of Abdul Razak as the second Prime Minister.
   
   
3. As President of UMNO, Abdul Razak appointed Ismail Abdul Rahman as deputy Prime Minister. If Ismail were to succeed Tun Razak as prime minister, the RAHMAN prophesy would have collapsed after the second prime minister. As fate would have it, (Tun) Ismail Abdul Rahman died in office prematurely in 1973 .
   
   
4. . Abdul Razak had then to choose from amongst the UMNO Vice Presidents to be his deputy. By 1973, Abdul Gaffar Baba had been a Vice President of UMNO for almost 11 years. Hussein Onn was elected as UMNO Vice President only a year earlier in 1972 after he won a parliamentary seat in Johore in 1970.
   
   
5. Instead of picking a more senior vice president, Abdul Razak picked the recently elected Vice President as his deputy. Hussein Onn became Deputy Prime Minister in August 1973.
   
   
6. In the 1974 general election, both Abdul Razak and Hussein Onn were returned as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
   
   
7. At the 1975 UMNO General Assembly: Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh were elected for the first time as UMNO Vice Presidents. Incumbent Abdul Ghaffar Baba was re-elected. Of the three Vice Presidents , Mahathir Mohamad won with the LEAST number of votes compared to the other two.
   
   
8. Then fate struck again when (Tun) Abdul Razak died in office in January 1976.
   
   
9. The SECOND fulfillment of the RAHMAN prophesy ( “H”) was achieved when Hussein Onn assumed the Prime Ministership on 14 January 1976.
   
   
10. Hussein Onn had to pick a Deputy Prime Minister. He had wanted to appoint the then powerful Home Minister and Razak-confidante Tan Sri Ghazalie Shafie as Deputy Prime Minister, but he was not an UMNO Vice President.
    
    
11. The three incumbent UMNO Vice Presidents, Abdul Ghafar Baba, Tengku Razaleigh and Mahathir demanded that the Deputy Prime Minister be picked from one of the three UMNO Vice Presidents : Abdul Ghaffar Baba Tengku Razaleigh, and Mahathir Mohammad.
    
    
12. With pressure from the three Vice Presidents, Hussein Onn decided to pick the vice-president who won with the LEAST number of votes at the UMNO General Assembly, i.e. Mahathir Mohamad. According to Anthony S.K. Shome in his book Malay Political Leadership, Hussein Onn chose Mahathir “because, it is said, he wanted someone with education and maturity. Hussein’s choice of Mahathir sparked off a crisis within UMNO that was to have wide repercussions for a long time in the party. Both Razaleigh and Ghaffar Baba were deeply disappointed and the latter subsequently refused to serve in the Cabinet under any capacity.”
    
    
13. At the 1978 general election, both Hussein Onn and Mahathir Mohamad were returned as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
    
    
14. Fate decided again that Hussein Onn had to leave office prematurely for ill-health in 1981.
    
    
15. The THIRD fulfillment of the RAHMAN prophesy (“M” ) was achieved in July 1981 when Mahathir Mohamad became Prime Minister.
    
    
16. Mahathir Mohamad served as Prime Minister from 1981 until 2003, over 5 general elections. When he took office, he declared the UMNO Deputy President open for election ie he was not supporting any candidate. Tengku Razaleigh and Musa Hitam fought it out. Musa Hitam won and eventually became the Deputy Prime Minister.
    
    
17. In 1986, there was a fall-out between Mahathir and Musa Hitam resulting in Musa Hitam leaving the cabinet . Abdul Ghaffar Baba was appointed and became the Deputy Prime Minister.
    
    
18. In 1987, Tengku Razeleigh challenged Mahathir for the UMNO Presidency. If Tengku Razaleigh had won, he would have been the successor to Mahathir. The RAHMAN prophesy would have collapsed by then. It was not to be.
    
    
19. Mahathir won the election instead but the court ruled that UMNO was illegal. Mahathir re-registered UMNO as UMNO Baru and continued to be the President of UMNO Baru and thus as Prime Minister. Abdul Ghaffar Baba continued to be the Deputy Prime Minister until 1993.
    
    
20. In 1993 UMNO election, Anwar Ibrahim challenged Ghaffar Baba for the Deputy Presidency. Anwar Ibrahim won the UMNO Deputy Presidency and beacme the new Deputy Prime Minister.
    
    
21. In 1998, Mahathir sacked Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime Minister and expelled him from UMNO. He was subsequently charged in court under controversial circumstances for sodomy and then jailed. The position of the Deputy Prime Minister was left vacant for about 6 months.
    
    
22. In 1999, Ahmad Abdullah Badawi was named the Deputy Prime Minister.
    
    
23. The FOURTH fulfillment of the RAHMAN prophesy (“A”) was achieved in October 2003 when Ahmad Abdullah Badawi assumed the Prime Ministership.
    
    
24. The Deputy Prime Minister under Ahmad Abdullah Badawi is Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, commonly called in the media as “ Najib”.

Fulfillment of the last letter “N under the RAHMAN Prophesy

For the RAHMAN prophesy to be fulfilled completely, the successor to Ahmad Abdullah Badawi has to have “N” ad his first letter in his name.

The current Deputy Prime Minister’s name is Mohd Najib Abdul Razak ie his first letter is “M”. By extension of that fact, and for the RAHMAN prophesy to hold true as it did for the last 39 years, Najib will NOT be the next Prime Minister, even if he had been elected as the President of UMNO.

The fact that Mohd Najib had been commonly called as simply Najib , thus assuming “N” as his first letter in his name does not count in the RAHMAN prophesy. For instance, Najib’s father was commonly referred to as Tun Razak. If the RAHMAN prophesy had allowed “R” to be the first letter of the name to be considered, then the RAHMAN predicted would have collapsed in 1970 when Tun Razak assumed office of the Prime Minister.

All other Deputy Prime Ministers ( with the exception of Abdul Ghaffar Baba and Anwar Ibrahim), who did not meet the conditions of the RAHMAN prophesy, FAILED to become the next Prime Minister.

Mohd Najib Abdul Razak

The current Prime Minister, Ahmad Abdullah Badawi was expected to step down as President of UMNO following the completion of the 2009 UMNO General Assembly on 27th March 2009.

Malaysians are expecting Mohd Najib to be the next President of UMNO and by convention, he will be installed as the 6th Prime Minister.

If Mohd Najib does succeed Ahmad Abdullah Badawi as the 6th Prime Minister, then it will be the FIRST time in 39 years that the RAHMAN prophesy has failed to predict the last (6th) Prime Minister with the name starting with the letter “N” in RAHMAN.

However, as noted by Tengku Razaleigh, Dr Mahathir and other political pundits, Mohd Najib’s ascension as President of UMNO does not constitutionally require that he will be installed as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The following events may still cause the RAHMAN prophesy to hold true after the 2009 UMNO General Assembly:

a) Although Mohd Najib becomes the President of UMNO, Ahmad Abdullah Badawi may wish to continue to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia as provided for in the constitution until he is given a vote of no confidence in Parliament. The RAHMAN prophesy remains intact. If this is the case, this will be the first time that a President of UMNO is not automatically made the Prime Minister of Malaysia.


b) The Yang DiPertuan Agung has the absolute discretion not to appoint Mohd Najib as the Prime Minister and he would either request Ahmad Abdullah Badawi to continue as Prime Minister until the next general election or the Agong may recall Parliament to decide on whether Mohd Najib or somebody else will be the Prime Minister.

As it stands, the RAHMAN prophesy says Mohd Najib Abdul Razak will not be the 6th Prime Minister, given it had stood the test of time of 39 years over 4 Prime Ministers and 9 Deputy Prime Ministers.

Malaysians will know in the days and weeks to come whether the RAHMAN prophesy will collapse without fulfilling the last letter “N”.

1. The incumbent Prime Minister is about to resign as he has solemnly promised to by the end of this month.
   
   
2. On the appointed day (which like so many things in this administration remains a mystery) the Prime Minister will tender his resignation and that of his cabinet to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. With this the government of the day comes to an end.
   
   
3. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong will appoint the next Prime Minister at his sole discretion from among the members of the elected lower house of Parliament, the Dewan Rakyat. His Majesty’s choice is guided by his own judgment of who among the members “commands the confidence” of a majority the members of parliament.
   
   
4. The new Prime Minister will name his cabinet and form the next government.
   
   
5. The Agong’s choice may at any time be tested by a vote of confidence in the Dewan Rakyat. If the Prime Minister is rejected by the Dewan, the King will have to re-appoint another person.

The Yang Dipertuan Agong has sole and absolute discretion in how he forms his judgment as to who in the Dewan Rakyat commands the confidence of the majority.

The choice is his alone.

The choice is absolute but not arbitrary, since it is guided by the Constitution. The right is the Agong’s alone, but it can any time afterwards be tested by the Dewan Rakyat.

In 2007, Khairy Jamaluddin called Malaysian bloggers, "Monkeys".

He told reporters, "There are no laws in the cyberworld except for the law of the jungle. As such, action must be taken so that the 'MONKEYS' behave."
- 28th July 2007

Khairy as UMNO Youth THUG at a protest
against former US State Secretary Condoleeza Rice in Kuala Lumpur in 2007


Khairy as an UMNO Youth THUG at a BN campaign rally

The son-in-law of outgoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Khairy Jamaluddin, is the new Umno Youth chief.

Khairy hails from Rembau in Negeri Sembilan and was born on January 10, 1976.

However, he also calls George Town, Penang, home as his maternal ancestors are Indian Muslims from the city, and he grew up enjoying 'mamak' (Indian Muslim) cuisine there.

His parents are ex-diplomat Datuk Jamaluddin Abu Bakar of Rembau and Umno veteran Datuk Rahmah Hamid of George Town.

Khairy has been married to Nori Abdullah since 2001 and they have a son Jibrail Ali, aged two.

Khairy is an economics graduate from Oxford University. After graduating he became the editor of Ethos magazine and the host of Astro Television's talk show Dateline Malaysia.

He also served as a correspondent with The Economist.

In 1999, he became Deputy Principal Private Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

In 2003, when his father-in-law became Prime Minister, Khairy became Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Khairy joined Umno in 1999 and was elected Umno Youth deputy chief in 2004. He became Member of Parliament for Rembau in 2008.

From 2004-2006, he was a director of the financial consultancy company ECM Libra. He subsequently founded Malaysia's first reality football team My Team and became deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

One of his best friends since his university days has been rock singer Jason Lo of Kuching, Sarawak. Jason hosts 8TV talk show Latte @ 8.

Another of his family friends is Tan Sri Elyas Omar of George Town, the third mayor of Kuala Lumpur who spearheaded the modernisation of Malaysia's capital city.

Datuk Seri Shahrizat Datuk Abdul Jalil was the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur, my place of work and residence, for three election terms, from 1995-1999, 1999-2004 and 2004-2008.

A successful lawyer and businesswoman, she is a family friend of the new Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Her father was a dear friend of Najib’s father the late, great Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, the second Prime Minister of Malaysia who was known as the Father of Development of Malaysia.

Born on August 15, 1953 in George Town, Penang.

Shahrizat is of Arab and Indian ancestry paternally and Kedah Malay and Indian ancestry maternally.

She received her early education in Northam Road School and St George’s School, George Town, and Tunku Kurshiah College in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Shahrizat later studied law at University Malaya.

From 1977-1978, she served as a magistrate in Kuala Lumpur and from 1978-1979 she was assistant treasury solicitor to the Finance Ministry.

From 1980-1993, she became a partner of a major law firm in Kuala Lumpur. From 1993-1995, she ran her own legal practice.

In 1995, Shahrizat became Parliamentary Secretary to the Youth and Sports Ministry. In 1999, she became Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of women’s affairs.

In 2000, she headed Malaysia’s delegation to the United Nations’ 23rd General Assembly.

A year later she became Minister of Women and Family Development. This post was renamed Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in 2004.

She became a Supreme Council member of the United Malay National Organisation (Umno) in 1996 and was elected Umno Women’s Wing Deputy President in 2000. In the same year she became Umno Women’s Wing head for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan [Putrajaya only became a Federal Territory in 2001].

On March 24, 2009, Shahrizat was elected Umno Women’s Wing President.

In 1996, Shahrizat was made a Datuk by Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang. In 2002, she was made a Datuk Seri by Penang Governor Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas.

Shahrizat was also active in the corporate sector as chairperson of Island And Peninsular from 1993-1995 and Austral Enterprises during the same period.

Shahrizat is married to Datuk Salleh Ismail of Kelantan. They have three children.

Bernama reported: Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Razak reminded all quarters not to twist the facts of history in recounting Umno's action to amend the law with regard to the Malay rulers.

In his speech when simultaneously opening the Wanita Umno, Youth and Puteri Delegates' Conference 2008 at the Putra World Trade Centre, here, tonight, Najib said, "It was never done in bad faith, but rather with the noble intention of preserving the royal institution and upholding the doctrine of the separation of powers which is the basis of any democratic government."

As far as we know, Zulkifli Noordin (PKR MP, Kulim-Bandar Baru) was NOT elected or nominated by ALLAH to sit in the Malaysian Federal Parliament.

Nor did his or Pakatan Rakyat's campaign slogan in the lead up to 8 March 2008 election was to send him to Parliament to fight for the rights and privileges of Allah.

He was not even a PAS candidate, for crying out loud.

But we do know that Zulkifli Noordin was voted in by a multi-racial and multi-religious constituency for Parti KeAdilan Rakyat under the PAKATAN RAKYAT banner, following the massive rejection of UMNO/BN's racially and religiously bigoted policies over the last 50 years.

Zulkifli Noordin is supposed to be a Member of Parliament FIRST AND FOREMOST, and as a Muslim, second, not the other way round.

Voters in Kulim-Bandar Baru did NOT send him to Federal Parliament to be ALLAH's Representative. His task in Parliament is to look after the earthly interests of his VOTERS in Kulim-Bandar Baru, not ALLAH's.

And the Malaysian Parliament is NOT the place for him to pursue, in his own words, "his personal crusade" to fight for Allah's rights and responsibilities.

We also know that ALLAH has more than enough supporters in the Islamic world to protect His rights and privileges on earth and elsewhere.

It is time for Anwar Ibrahim and Parti KeAdilan Rakyat to bring Zulkifli Noordin to task for continuing his uncalled-for jihad in Parliament and on the streets as he did so during the rowdy demonstration at the Bar Council forum last year.

We stress the fact that Malaysians did NOT give their precious votes to PAKATAN RAKYAT or Parti KeAdilan Rakyat for its representatives to sit in the Federal Parliament to fight for Allah, God, Jehovah, Guru Nanak, Jesus Christ, Buddha or Lord Krishna's rights and privileges for that matter.

Malaysians who voted for Pakatan Rakyat now is fully convinced that Zulkifli Noordin has forfeited the mandate given to him to be THEIR representative in Parliament.

Zulkifli Noordin should resign from Parliament so that he can peacefully become a Muslim FIRST to pursue his personal jihad in other more appropriate forum.
-Malaysian Unplug

The Double Face of PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin

(Elected by Voters of all Religions but became self-appointed Allah's Representative in the Federal Parliament)

" Those motions PERSONAL crusade. I don't even know what is PKR's stand on this issue. I do wish that PKR would make a very clear stand.

I believe in this verse: "If you assist Allah in His religion, He will assist you and put you in a firm position." (Al Quran, Surah Muhammad, Verse 30).

It is my personal jihad to uphold the right of Muslims to profess and practise their Islamic religion. And I will do so to my last breath. If I have to die in doing so, then I'm more than happy to give my soul for that struggle. It is my jihad to do so.

The big question that Muslims are asking now is, can we have our lives as Muslims back? And I'm nothing but an instrument of Allah to achieve just that — we Muslims just want our lives back."

March 8 marks the first anniversary of Malaysia's epoch-making polls.

The level of political risk in Malaysia has for the first time in recent history exceeded that of Indonesia.

Malaysia is still locked in the past. Power remains centralized: the winners are lauded and can do no wrong while the losers’ are vilified.

Moreover such is the disregard for democracy and the 'spirit' of the nation’s respective Constitutions, that even genuine electoral results are suborned and reversed - the ouster of the pro-Thaksin administration in Thailand last year and the depressing sequence of events in Perak.

With the economic downturn adding a layer of complexity, the legitimacy and survivability of current systems of governance is questionable.

As I said, there's no guarantee that the present political systems in the region or, perhaps more importantly, the elites they've engendered will survive history's depredations.

In Malaysia, it's clear that the dominant political party, Umno cannot remain idle.

Its competitors for the Malay vote, the Islamist PAS and the more moderate, racially-inclusive PKR are gaining ground.

Umno is fast discovering that the politics of development is no longer sufficient. Voter expectations have risen. People want improved public services, cheaper utilities and a more caring leadership, all of which are an anathema to a political and administrative machine that's unused to dialogue and focused almost entirely on the provision of infrastructural hardware.

In short, Umno tells the people what they need. It rarely listens or consults beyond the privileged circle of party activists.

Umno must come to terms with reality - popular sentiment is dynamic and unforgiving. Moreover political parties are neither destined nor fated to lead. Past achievements and former glories amount to very little in the face of mounting expectations from increasingly well-educated and demanding voters - especially during periods of economic uncertainty.

Sadly, over the past twelve months Umno has not shown itself either ready or willing to face up to its myriad challenges. Indeed the party's substandard performance in the two by-elections - Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu - reinforces a growing sense that Umno is leaderless and adrift.

The party appears to have failed to grasp the basic fact of contemporary political life that the voter is king. Perhaps what Umno’s leadership needs is not so much new thinking but rather some simple common sense.

The grand old party of Merdeka with its noble traditions and genuine service culture has simply lost steam. Carpet-baggers, thugs and jokers now throng the party's ranks.

Moreover, they (and their families) are deliberately excluding many thousands of professional and educated Malays who want to get involved in public life, forcing the latter to turn to the welcoming embrace of Pas and PKR.

As one former Umno leader explained, "Karim, they've lost faith in themselves."

The impending departure of Abdullah Badawi has become a convenient fig leaf for the party's leadership who now blame the outgoing premier for all failings. Whilst there is some truth in their arguments - Abdullah's 'laissez faire' leadership did indeed expose Umno's weaknesses- the continuing refusal of the party's leadership to acknowledge their own complicity is worrying.

At the same time, there has also been a sense that the nation's character has altered.

Voting patterns have changed. Neat racial stereotypes have been rejected - witness the way non-Malays swung behind PAS and countless urban Malays deserted Umno by voting for PKR and even the predominantly ethnic Chinese DAP - perhaps forever.

In the final analysis Umno has two options. Firstly, it can endeavour to turn the clock back on events and deny the growing demands for greater social and political freedoms as well as the attendant push for greater transparency and accountability.

This strategy could well succeed for a certain period of time - however it will definitely lead to a tremendous backlash that will in turn destroy the very fabric of our fragile multi-racial society.

Let us not forget that 2009 also represents the 30th anniversary of the downfall of the Shah of Iran and the ascension of the Ayatollah Khomeni.

Instead of an atavistic return to the Mahathir-era, Umno must reform both itself and the government before it is too late. The party is worth saving and must be saved. Cool heads must prevail in this unavoidable process.

Change is inevitable and as I've said, we are not alone in facing these challenges. After decades of real peace and prosperity the current Malaysian elite must face up to these demands unless they wish to be swept away by the inexorable tide of history.
-Karim Raslan