Despite the mainstream media hype that BN has turned the corner with the recent Bagan Pinang by-election victory, the sad truth on the ground is that BN has really not made any headway.

The groundswell of discontentment and disenchantment about the present federal government is so evident that it will take a lot more than a public relations exercise to exonerate Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's and BN's past misdeeds.

There is still a questionable dark cloud hanging over Najib's role in the Altantuya murder which is unlikely to quietly disappear. What about the two statutory declarations made by P Balasubramaniam, the private investigator?

The Lingam tape episode which caused irreparable harm to the judiciary and which culminated in the formation of a royal commission has ended with an anti-climax with the Attorney-General declaring that the case was closed despite strong evidence that there was collusion and conspiracy in the appointment of judges.

The AG's verdict is in direct contradiction of what the royal commission had uncovered and this nonchalant dismissal with‘lack of evidence’ and ‘inability to locate an important witness’ claims is a poor attempt by the government to completely sweep the sordid episode under the carpet.

Despite Najib's claim that BN had legally taken over the Perak state government, Perakians have generally not accepted the changeover from a popularly-elected Pakatan Rakyat government to a BN manipulated government.

Even if BN manages to hold on to the reins of power till the next election, the common feeling is that BN will suffer a most resounding defeat in the next election. The stain in Perak by Najib and the BN government will inevtiably be their Waterloo.

No matter how well orchestrated his ‘1Malaysia’ concept may be, Perakians are unlikely to forget his slimy role in toppling the Pakatan government.

The corruption charges against the two PKR assembly persons which resulted in their hopping over to the BN side is also etched indelibly in the minds of Perakians and that will be a clarion call for them to dump Najib and BN at the next general election.

Najib's hypocritical measures of a ‘1Malaysia’ concept will be mere window dressing and is unlikely to win any admirers. Most likely, it has been interpreted as a ‘2Malaysia’ concept after he further reiterated that the Malays still needed the NEP crutch in order to compete with the other races.

As long as Umno and BN remain in power, there will never be any change. They have been so used to their old ways of doing things their way that it is unlikely they will ever change.

Malaysians must generally wake up from this dilemma and nightmare and realise that for a change to be effected, Umno and BN will have to be voted out. Only from a period of being out from the seat of power will they be able to reform and change for the better.

And for the victor, there will be a period of change and reform for all the institutions that BN in general and Umno in particular had corrupted during their 52-year reign.