Bakri Musa has put in fine perspective what we can expect of the new prime minister, now armed with a strong mandate.

At 64, Pak Lah cannot be expected to shock and surprise, especially when we ourselves have good experience of what this man is or is not capable of. He has had his chances to impress us through the years and asking us to believe that he has changed considerably is, I find, just wishful thinking.

He is head of Umno and therefore our PM more by default than by design. Compared to the others that have fallen by the wayside, he can at best be described as mediocre. He had bided his time and really just hung around until conveniently chosen by Mahathir to replace Anwar.

Realistically, now, he can only be but a transitional PM. He can, however, set the pace and more importantly, the direction of the politics within Umno, for therein lies the fate of our country's stewardship. Unlike his predecessor, he must allow democracy to flourish in Umno so that the cream can rise to the top. As things stand, it is not the smartest but the richest that will rise now in Umno.

The Umno elections are approaching and already there is talk of no-contests for the top two posts which begs the question: Why should a healthy democratic contest for a leader's post be divisive and detrimental to this party?

Pak Lah can still do a good job for us, provided he accepts his limitations and is prepared to listen - listen to the experts in their field and more importantly, to his conscience. He may not be as talented as Mahathir but the next best thing that he can do before he retires is to set the stage for a leadership succession which promotes meritocracy rather than mediocrity, the latter for which we can thank our former PM for.