It was Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, not his ex-boss, who has sustained 'minor bruises' in the opening bout. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad threw a blistering 'left hook' that has his handpicked successor reeling.

As Abdullah slunk back to his corner, the ring girls were marshaled to bolster his waning confidence - the cabinet, MPs, Umno supreme council; you name it, they were there. But Mahathir, a feral street fighter, is not so easily spooked by such 'shock and awe'.

Despite the prime minister being battered both physically and mentally, no one expects a quick knockout. Mahathir's strategy is to wear Abdullah down in the coming rounds. And when his successor-turns-adversary is weak enough, someone else will finish the job for him.

Round 1 has gone to Mahathir. Expect 14 more to come.

For Malaysians who are watching this contest with morbid interest, it is hard to back either one of them - not Mahathir, for what he had done and not Abdullah, for what he has not done.

Abdullah kicked off the second round with a major blunder. 'Hatchet man' Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz's jantan remark did not go down well with the fence-sitters in Umno. Bully boy Mahathir unwittingly won some sympathy.

Expect Round 2 to intensify when Mahathir returns from his Mediterranean holiday later this month. He is set to launch what could be a nationwide roadshow beginning in Kelantan with the help of party dissidents the likes of Zaid Ibrahim and ex-member Ibrahim Ali.

That's what Abdullah fears most. His 'elegant silence' is not working. It has even emboldened Mahathir.

Obviously, ties between the two men have deteriorated so much that they are no longer on speaking terms. Hence, the idea for a mediator to calm down a jittery second echelon.

Mahathir's end game

But what's Mahathir's end game?

Mahathir is a consummate politician. He doesn't do things by half-measure or without a well-thought out plan. And if need be, he has no qualms bargaining with the devil, so to speak, to achieve his goals.

He said he had no intention of overthrowing Abdullah. That could well be true. He doesn't need to. For now, anyway. After all, Abdullah is still popular at least with many Malaysians. What Mahathir wants is to bring back the old 'yes man' Abdullah; the one he knew before Abdullah's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin entered the picture.

Mahathir may try to extract the following concessions from his successor at the upcoming peace talks but if that doesn't go ahead - the idea was stillborn the moment it was made public - then at other behind-the-scene meetings organised by troubled party leaders.

First, Khairy and his coterie of young advisers in the Prime Minister's Office will have to go. This include Abdullah's spin-doctors in Umno-owned media too. Their replacement will comprise of Mahathir's men.

Second, Mahathir would want a cabinet reshuffle where his loyalists are planted in key ministries, in particular Finance and Internal Security.

By taking over the Finance Ministry, the ex-PM could breathe new life into his Mahathirnomics. Money will flow liberally again. That should make his cronies - those out in the cold since Abdullah took over - most happy.

And with the Internal Security Ministry under the thumb of a Mahathir man, the police and the civil servants can rest easy. The troubled independent police watchdog, or IPCMC, will be turned into yet another toothless tiger, much like Suhakam. The judiciary will again be under the thrall of the powers-that-be. And fear, as was before, will rule the day.

The centre of power will thus shift from the fourth floor of the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya, where Abdullah's advisors are holed up, to Mahathir's office at the Perdana Leadership Foundation on the other side of town.

Abdullah will effectively be a lame duck prime minister, and Mahathir, the de facto minister mentor.

Fight the good fight

What then should Abdullah do? He can continue as PM with what little power he has until the next election and then forced to hand over the mantle to possibly his deputy, Najib Abdul Razak.

Or he can stand his ground and fight the good fight.

For that, he could take a leaf from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's book in rallying the masses to his side in his battle against those resisting reform within his own party. But to win full backing from Malaysians, Abdullah must first make a few decisive moves.

These include allowing the Anti-Corruption Agency do its job and nab those crooks who were involved in the many shady deals during the Mahathir era. He needs to send the IPCMC bill to Parliament and also clean up the judiciary. While he is at it, he should also launch a probe into the alleged 'Project M' plan in Sabah, among others.

It is not as difficult as it sounds. Take the judiciary. The chief justice has argued that allegations of corruption were baseless. But the proof is there for all to see. For example, the report which malaysiakini published five years ago about the New Zealand holiday taken by former chief justice Eusoff Chin and prominent lawyer VK Lingam. Surely, he can start with that.

Unfortunately, there is nothing to suggest that Abdullah will do a Koizumi.

This fight, if it persists, will undoubtably pry open a can of worms. Both parties stand to lose much. At stake for Mahathir is whatever left of his legacy. Abdullah, and his ministers, will find their own fingerprints on every decision they blame on their ex-boss. After all, they were part of the same team, same cabinet, same government.

So it's not surprising that both sides want to see this end, and soon.

If this is the case, the biggest losers will be Malaysians. There has been no proper accounting for the many decisions - and the costly mistakes - made over the past two decades. Truth must be told no matter which sides it comes from. Let everything hang out, warts and all.

But when all is said and done, what's the moral of this story?

It's that we cannot expect our political leaders - those in office and, yes, those retired too - to bring the much-needed reforms to this country. That, we will have to do ourselves.