malaysiakini Describes a Government in DISARRAY

The resignation of the Law Minister who found the recent ISA arrests unacceptable and his description of facing "a brick wall" among UMNO Cabinet ministers about the reforms shows a Government in disarray.
According to the malaysiakini article Outgoing minister paints damning portrait of embattled gov't, these included
"a better selection process for judges, restore the judicial power, initiate reforms to the police force and limit the executive’s power on the Internal Security Act."
Of course we all know that the ISA has been abused again and the reasons given by both the Home Minister and the Police do not match the high standards we demand of such authorities who are in charge of our safety and security.

It is the greatest mockery of justice when a Minister has the audacity to calmly state that the repressive ISA had to be used on a helpless reporter just because there were reports that "her life was in danger" and the police had to place her in protective custody. So far no one has asked who made the reports and how far those reports were investigated.

It really shows the Government is in disarray and I have written before about our ever-expanding Cabinet that is probably stepping on each other's toes as no one knows what the other is doing.

Since the Raja Muda of Perak has also touched on political leaders working together for the benefit of Malaysians, I suggest the following may restore some semblance of normality as far as the government is concerned. Anwar's quest is a different equation that has to be solved simultaneously.

1.The Prime Minister wants to step down in 2010 but I think most Malaysians think that is really too long for a person to stay in office. We do not follow the American system where there is a lame duck President for 4 years. Let's agree that the period should be shortened to 6 months after the next PM has been agreed upon by the BN parties.

2.The PM is now spending too much time on UMNO internal politics and really cannot handle national affairs adequately and so the solution is that he should withdraw from the UMNO elections completely.

3.UMNO elections should be more democratic and allow challengers to rise from the ranks. The present patronage system has not proved to be effective in producing good leaders with national appeal.

4.Whoever wins the UMNO Presidency and the Supreme Council will agree to let him be the PM for another 6 months as the handover proceeds.

Of course this will make the UMNO elections more exciting and unpredictable but it also frees the PM from all the politics and allows him more time to lead the nation.