It's remarkable that it took this long for some to see the real Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Then again, perhaps not. After all, his American-style spin-doctoring pulled enough wool over our eyes.

Still, the chink in Abdullah's armour is beginning to show and this has given away his game. Indeed, the prime minister is becoming a victim of his own elaborate 'spin'.

Increasingly, Malaysians are questioning his leadership when previously few dared to without ending up looking foolish, as Abdullah is still enormously popular. But it's there for all to see - his sloth-like administration, his flip-flopping in decision-making and his seeming disinterest in state affairs.

This month, Abdullah reached a milestone - on Nov 1, he marked four years as PM. It passed without much fanfare as there's really little to celebrate.

Abdullah is arguably the most incompetent PM we ever had. He has just sleep-walked his way through his first term.

When he took over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he promised Malaysians the sky - he vowed to wipe out corruption without fear or favour, he asked everyone to tell him the truth even if it hurts, and promised to rid the country of racial and religious polarisation.

Surely, Abdullah must be kicking himself now. You don't promise what you cannot deliver.

He should have known that he cannot root out corruption without weeding out the real source - the patronage politics in Umno and its sidekicks within the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Moreover, his dilly-dallying over acting on the Lingam tape and his sledgehammer approach to the Bersih and Hindraf protests are the latest in a string of decisions which have let down many, including those who gave him a huge mandate in the 2004 election.

He's no Koizumi

When he moved into his official resident, Seri Perdana, four years ago, Abdullah might have hoped to emulate Junichiro Koizumi - the maverick Japanese leader who led his party to one of the biggest electoral victories in the nation's history and decisively sacked party leaders who opposed his reforms.

But he is no Koizumi.

Clearly, Abdullah is stumped by his inability to galvanise his own party, let alone the nation.

To paper over his weaknesses, his minders have seen to it that he does not put his foot in his mouth too often on policy issues. When he does give the rare press conference - and it's getting more infrequent by the day - journalists are told to stay away from 'no go' areas.

Worse still, his 'elegant silence' administration has been hijacked by two self-appointed spokespersons - de facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and information czar Zainuddin Maidin. It cannot get any worse than this.

Abdullah should realise that his real enemies are not his critics but his sycophants. Indeed, his Achilles' heel is one of his most trusted confidants, son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy has openly conceded that he needs his father-in-law to 'protect' him while he plots to take over the country's top job within the next 10 years. He is painfully aware that the moment Abdullah steps down, he can kiss his ambitions goodbye.

The Khairy plan

For Khairy's plan to work, Abdullah must hold on to his job for at least another term. That should provide this 30-something politician the 'protection' he needs to climb up the party hierarchy and shore up his political support.

He has one major problem though - with deputy Umno president Najib Abdul Razak next in line to take the reins, Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein stands out as Khairy's most immediate rival. As Najib's cousin, Hishammuddin is the most obvious successor. This could potentially leave Khairy ( right ) out in the cold.

So expect Khairy to work overtime to ensure that Hishammuddin not elected as one of the three party vice-presidents in the next Umno polls. With his key rival out of the way, Khairy - who will be installed as Umno Youth chief - will be right on track in his quest for power.

This explains why Abdullah cannot rock the boat too much by rubbing up the party chieftains the wrong way - hence, his uninspired leadership.

So Abdullah is no Koizumi. But at least, he can be Habibie.

BJ Habibie was the accidental president in post-Suharto Indonesia. In the one year he was in power, he initiated poll reforms, liberated the media, free political prisoners and let East Timor go. Not bad for a colourless technocrat.

Abdullah could still be the bureaucrat to bring similar reforms in Malaysia. That is, if his son-in-law allows him to.