Much has been said about the results of the recent general election. The wining party and the mainstream media have hailed it as testimony of the people's support to BN under Pak Lah's leadership and rejection of the opposition and what they stand for.

To cap it, there were also strings of praises from foreign governments, Washington included. Nothing surprising about that but what was rather ironic was the congratulatory statement from the United States which went like this: 'We congratulate Malaysia on the conduct of the election and how the process was handled.'

It is certainly a big joke for the United States or any one else to claim that BN's victory was very convincing as the manner in which Election Commission had conducted the election was very much the same manner in which Anwar Ibrahim's trail was conducted. In short, there was nothing free, fair or clean about it.

Ever since the last election, the BN has been working very hard, but not necessarily to win the people's hearts through a clean, honest and effective government. Instead, efforts were undertaken to plug any loopholes that could allow election results to be a source of embarrassment for Umno and BN, as they were in 1999.

The Election Offences Act passed in 2002 and the electoral boundary delineation exercise approved last year did just this. Elections in this country have long been irrelevant as a means to deny the ruling party a two-thirds majority or to change the government .

No doubt the ruling party does have its popular supporters but that doesn't stop it from either using or abusing these: postal votes, phantom voters, the EC, government facilities, the Special Branch, military intelligence, the media, money and threats and intimidations.

All these have turned the electoral process into something of a ritual of no significance .

There might have been swing of votes to BN because of the systematic and uncompromising projection of Pak Lah by the controlled media as being clean, effective and credible coupled with PAS' single-minded obsession with its Islamic state.

If the general election of 1999 was said to have been the dirtiest ever, what made the recent election any different? Would Pak Lah have been able to face his party at the coming Umno general assembly with election results comparable to that of 1999 or worse ? He, like Dr M in 1999, had to win at all costs and that justified BN's use of dubious tactics that would make Machiavelli look noble.

Those who think that they have contributed to the good of the nation by throwing their votes overwhelmingly behind BN should invest some time to ponder on their choice with some simple questions.

Being 'clean and full of integrity' did not stop Pak Lah from presiding himself over an electoral process which was dirty and not honorable at all. It didn't stop Pak Lah from roping in controversial figures like Samy Vellu, Rafidah Aziz and the likes of them as BN candidates. The fact that personalities like this were actually elected doesn't actually say much about the state of mind and conscience of the Malaysian voting public.

It is said that truth can stand by itself but falsehood needs to be defended. If that is so, one wonders why the BN has to use the media to glorify itself and slander the opposition? Why does it have to intimidate tacitly or otherwise and use strong arms tactics backed up by draconian legislation if it is really popular with the people?

It is also said that an apathetic general public is an asset to an authoritarian regime. But what is there to say if those who we may think as being intellectual and knowledgeable, seem to anything but wiser after all these years. Pragmatic, maybe but not wiser. And we have not even talked about the ulama who can be found on both 'sides of the coin.'

To be fair and even rational, BN has a track record of maintaining peace and stability and bringing physical material development that has been acknowledged by both friends and foes. But the progress has been anything but environmentally or socially sustainable. It has been a development of the 'tangibles' at the cost of 'intangibles.'

We Malaysians may have knowingly or unknowingly conspired in the destruction of the notion of democracy, separation of powers and the rule of law to the extent that the institutions of state such as the Parliament, police, the EC, the judiciary and the press no longer has any worth other then the worth attached to it by the ruling party.

Despite all this, the fact that there is still some semblance of law and order, food and peace to cherish and some avenue for critical views to be aired could simply mean that God still has mercy upon us .

It may also mean that the political elite still has some thought of the public in their minds. But no one knows when these factors will run out. As the election results are out, it is now a good opportunity for the opposition to indulge in some sincere soul-searching as to what they have been and where they intend to become.

The non-existent level playing field aside, the opposition is not without blame and much can be written on that.

Much has been said by Pak Lah on what he intends to do. To be fair to him, as we hope he will be fair to Anwar Ibrahim, let's give him the chance to fulfill his words. Much damage has been done, not only to the various institutions of state but also to the minds of the Malaysian public through the bombardment of half-truths and wholesome lies .

Despite all this, there could still be a glimmer of hope if the people could come to their senses and collectively stand up to ensure that truth and justice prevail over this great nation of ours.

But before that can happen, the light of truth and justice must first be present in the hearts of its people. Let us bring our nation back to the path of political sanity.