Pak Lah made the right decision, but is still moving in the wrong direction. Pak Lah did the right things, in the right way, for the right reasons when he first became prime minister after Tun Dr Mahathir resigned.

In fact, he will do down in history as the prime minister with the highest amount of support from the rakyat . I don’t think any other PM has gotten such unconditional support from the grassroots ever!

Pak Lah had inherited a modern but ugly Malaysia in many ways. We had first-world infrastructure but a third-world mentality and Pak Lah said this publicly and very often. That was an accurate problem definition.

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Pak Lah therefore consciously opened up the democratic space in Malaysia and we began to ‘flower and bud’ but the spring of such democratic space withered soon enough, and then Pak Lah made another historic record, this time he got the worst ever general election result the nation has ever delivered on an incumbent government.

But, why this pendulum swing in peoples’ moods and views? His personal strength of conviction was also his weakness at an institutional level. The public display of democratic space at the Umno General Assembly broadcast live on television was an unmitigated disaster, especially because we were still \”third world-like in our mentality,\” and it was vividly displayed by all and sundry: the son of the former PM and the son-in-law of the current PM, included.

All Anak Malaysia were upset, but many in Umno assumed that it was only the non-Malays who were upset by the xenophobic bigotry. Filthy language is so, to all civilised people of the world! Like art or pornography, all beholders can recognise filth and dirt.

The culmination of the wrath of all Malaysians was demonstrated at the 12th General Election, and we, the Malaysian people, gave Umno an unprecedented beating. Government officers left office in a hurry, stealing records and shredding official documents.

Suddenly, the Internal Security Act, Official Secrets Act and the Sedition Act were all forgotten, typical of our ‘close one eye’ culture.

Nevertheless, Umno’s Titanic continued to move in the same direction. Pak Lah’s promise of a new direction was why Malaysians gave him a record 94 percent of votes in 2004. The sleepy PM forgot his promise to the people.

Forgetting a solemn promise

He had even forgotten a personal promise he made to me, at a public setting. He had said, \” Saya yang menurut perintah rakyat Malaysia ,\” but defaulted on this simple promise. He seems to have taken perintah from elsewhere, some say from the fourth floor of the Putrajaya Perdana Complex.

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It seems like we only have first world buildings, not people. I am sorry Pak Lah, as I asked you once, \”Why have we moved to Putrajaya but not yet achieved the hijrah ?\” You see, there is nothing very ‘smart’ about Putrajaya.

The buildings are not smart, the guards are not smart, the technology is not smart, then why do we call is the ‘smart’ capital of Malaysia? There are much smarter complexes in the private sector and neither are they located in Cyberjaya, the so-called ‘smart’ twin city of Putrajaya.

The problem is that we love wayang kulit more than the truth. What do I mean? The front screen reality is always more important than the back screen reality. I once wrote an article titled \”Big R Reality,\” to refer to the back screen affairs and intrigue, and the \”small r reality\” to refer to front screen reality.

Therefore, as all ambassadors on their first tour in Asia and Malaysia find out, what appears on the front screens of the mainstream media is not the truth. You have to dig behind the screens and talk to the ‘play-makers’ to uncover the real truth.

Neither is there only a single play-maker, as assumed by most conspiracy theories. There are many play-makers and creators of both fiction and folklore. Information, mis-information and dis-information are all equally valid.

I once had a boss in the public service whose theory of action was to start a rumour and repeat it many times until it became the truth! I believe Hitler’s media adviser subscribed to the same theory.

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Therefore, while we can all believe that Pak Lah was not forced out of office, as he himself claims, everyone knows that Pak Lah, much like Tunku Abdul Rahman, was checkmated in an Umno chess game. So, he is doing the most gracious thing he can, that is to leave without being forced out democratically from within Umno.

It is the right and privilege of Umno members to decide who their next president is. We, non-members, have no say. But those who voted and colluded with Pak Lah the first time and again the second time, also have a say.

We have a say as to who should be the prime minister of Malaysia, it cannot solely be Umno’s right and privilege anymore. In fact, Permatang Pauh was such a watershed in which even Umno members voted in Anwar Ibrahim with a thumping new majority.

Malaysians want change

Therefore, dear Pak Lah my suggestion to you about your right decision but wrong direction is as follows. While you step down as Umno president and let the best candidate take over as new president, you do not have to step down yet as prime minister.

Please do continue as the prime minister of all Malaysians. Let Najib or who you deem fit, watch over Umno. I am sure even Pakatan Rakyat will support you continuing as PM until a new valid and credible Umno president takes over.

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I say ‘valid and credible’ because perception is all of reality in politics. I am sorry but most Malaysians have serious doubts about the credibility of Najib, at least until the Altantuya murder case and the Raja Petra sedition case are concluded and Najib is absolved of any involvement.

Therefore, can the nation afford another lame duck PM while the trials are going on? Will foreign investors have confidence in a system which lacks integrity? The police, Anti-Corruption Agency and judiciary are already suffering from tainted reputations.

Your burning desire was to leave behind a nation of integrity. You demonstrated this by the setting up of the Integrity Institute of Malaysia, the first of its kind in the world, and then you lost steam. Why?

Our democratic system of governance does not state that the PM must come from Umno. It can be anybody who commands the majority in Parliament. May I suggest Sir, if you go for a vote in Parliament, you can beat even the only other viable candidate in Parliament, because Malaysians do not believe in heroic leaders but want a leadership which excels and brings the nation forward.

The two-party system that is evolving and is the only way forward for Malaysia; and you can help cement that by a wise and able new leadership. To quote you Sir, \”I have always been guided by my conscience. I have always placed the interests of the nation above all else. It is with this in mind that I announce I will not stand for the presidency of Umno\”.

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My call to you Sir, is to recognise that you are the prime minister of all Malaysians. Therefore, please do what is good for Malaysia and let them do what they think is good for Umno. Then history will record you as the real Gorbachev of Malaysia; much like Gus Dur in Indonesia.

Sir, you can set Malaysia in new directions. Your decision to resign as president of Umno is a good and right one, but I am not sure that Malaysia is ready for an Umno president to also become the prime minister of Malaysia.

May God help Malaysia steer the Titanic away from the iceberg!