I refer to the Malaysiakini report Muhyiddin is deputy president.

The die is cast. Umno delegates have decided for the rest of us Malaysians on the new lineup of party’s leaders as well as cabinet members who will run our country until the next election is held.

With Najib Abdul Razak being returned unopposed as president of the party and hot favorite Muhyiddin Yassin being elected his deputy, both of them will become the new prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively in the coming days. Muhyiddin Yassin’s rival for the deputy’s post, Muhammad Mohd Taib did not make the cut as he was surrounded with controversy when he was the MB of Selangor.

Thank god for that as the former MB of Selangor had openly admitted that his English was not good in an Australian court when he was charged with money laundering. And in the global world that we live in, speaking and writing good English is a must if you are to meet your counterparts from overseas where the medium of language is English.

For the vice-president’s post, we have two former youth heads climbing up the ladder after having led the youth movement before. Zaid Hamidi comes from a humble beginning whose terms of office was short and he had to spend three days under the ISA while Hisahmmuddin Hussein comes from aristocratic family line with a famous father’s and grandfather’s name behind him.

The third winner, Shafie Apdal from Sabah has broken history as he is the first person from East Malaysia to have reached such high echelons of the party.

Looks like the Umno Youth chief’s post is a stepping stone for those aspirants who want to move up the ladder and eventually reach top posts in the party and government. Khairy Jamaluddin, the new Youth wing chief will have to prove his mettle and convince the youth of the nation - who will make up the majority of voters in the coming polls - to take up the party’s cause if he wants to move up the ladder too.

Rafidah Aziz’s failure to retain her Wanita’s top post against her deputy Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was to be expected as the Iron Lady had overstayed her welcome. Azalina Aziz, the tourism minister whose tenure of office was under a cloud due to the MACC checking on alleged graft in her ministry will now face a bleak future as she failed to win a seat on the Umno supreme council.

The incoming prime minister has his work cut out for him. With several old guard stalwarts failing to retain their seats on the supreme council, it will be easier for him to replace them with new blood with a better vision who are more attuned with the needs and aspirations of our people today.

Sharir Samad, who also failed to secure a supreme council seat has started the ball rolling and is ready to tender his resignation from the cabinet. Hopefully, those ministers and deputy ministers who are full of controversies and did not make the cut will do the same thing rather than suffer the embarrassment of being asked to leave by the prime minister.

There won’t be any honeymoon period of the incoming new prime minister and his cabinet but they will have to work hard to reform for the better in order to endear themselves to their supporters who had abandoned them in droves during the last general election in favour of their rivals due to Umno and BN’s inept leadership which is full of graft and wrongdoing.

Failure to restructure the party and the government machinery will only alienate voters from supporting the government and Najib needs to act fast to win the hearts and minds of a skeptical public .Under his leadership, transparency, accountability and respect for the law should be his mantra when he leads the nation.

Time is of the essence here. With less than four years before they face the public in the next general election, Umno as well as their BN partners will have to rejuvenate themselves for the better as the strong opposition will try their best to win more federal seats in order to form the next government.

Most Malaysians have already formed an opinion about the present federal government and the states controlled by the opposition front one year since the historical polls. Our well-being is affected due to the depressed economy. Political figures from both sides of the divide seem more interested with political infighting rather than addressing the malaises affecting the common people who have difficulties paying their bills and putting food on the table.

We need inspiring leaders who can lift the gloom that is enveloping the country like now and regardless whether it is Najib Razak or his main nemesis Anwar Ibrahim, he who can get us of our mess will win the voters’ confidence in the next polls.

If Najib’s is confident about his leadership ability, he should call for a snap polls to get the people’s mandate to govern the country. But perception about his leadership quality is suspect due to his alleged involvement in a murder scandal and graft cases when he headed the defence ministry.

Unlike other previous prime ministers, Najib comes with a lot of baggage which can bring him down from his high office. But if the economy improves under the new stimulus package which he announced earlier in Parliament and if his new line up is made up of people whose integrity and honesty are impeccable, one would think he has more than an even chance of forming the next federal government after the next general elections.

What the country needs now is strong leadership to take us out of the hailstorms to sunny days and Najib’s must not fail us if he wants to remain long in office unlike his previous predecessor who had to leave office prematurely due to weak leadership.

Najib Razak will have to do a major surgery on his party by kicking out all the old and tired faces who had become cabinet members during Mahathir’s time in office. He has to inject the young and the bold into the cabinet, they who have what it takes to take on a strong oppositions on the latter’s turfs’ in order to win back public support.

Remember, you are the prime minister for all races and religions in this country so do your job well with the nation’s interest at heart in order to bring back the glorious days of the party which was once led by your illustrious father.

Reform or die, there is no two ways about it.