Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi seemed to have struck all the right chords when he lectured top civil servants on the subject of corruption during the opening of the National Good Governance Committee Convention.

He expressed alarm over the high rate of corruption in the civil service, warned of the serious consequences to the nation, and admonished the civil servants to uphold a clean image for this country by ridding corruption and increasing efficiency.

The speech is beautiful, replete with sound facts and logic, except for one mistake. He should have replaced the words 'civil servants' with 'political leaders'.

What plagues Malaysia most at this moment is a sickened political leadership that badly needs to be cleansed of corruption, cronyism and abuse of power. Only when appropriate political reform has taken place can we expect to see concrete results from any move to lift the civil service from its present malaise.

Amidst signs of rapidly deteriorating state of the rule of law in recent months - as exemplified by the promotion of certain judges, cover-up of high political scandals by ACA and police, manipulation of the Election Commission, and runaway corruption and cronyism - Abdullah's words of admonition to civil servants at this time sound particularly ironic.

Does he honestly think that his words will fall on receptive ears while the political leadership increases its display of contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law?

Perhaps Abdullah should shift the priority to where his medicine is needed more, but then of course this is a matter that involves high political judgment that only he himself can make, as any mis-step on his part at this delicate moment may end up in catastrophe for him.