Some people have argued that voters should give new prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi 'a chance' by supporting the Barisan Nasional in the coming general election. I disagree.

Abdullah is actually not that 'new'. He has been with the Umno-dominated corrupt system for some 30 years. He is part and parcel and the beneficiary of the same rotten system. It is illogical and politically dangerous to opine that Abdullah is an exception to the rule.

Otherwise, he could have ordered the re-opening of investigations into unresolved cases involving Rafidah Aziz, Nazri Aziz, Samy Vellu, Rahim Thamby Chik and Ling Liong Sik, to name just four well-known ones.

As the chairman of BN, Abdullah has the final authority to retain or drop these figures from the candidate list. Retaining anyone of them in the candidate list means that Abdullah is not serious in his so-called anti-corruption drive.

Given the unthinking loyalty of BN's diehard supporters, these figures will certainly be re-elected in the coming general election, thus increasing the resistance to any anti-corruption drive after the election. Malaysians should be smart enough to screen the BN's candidate list before they make up their minds at the ballot box.