The prime minister seems to be under siege today. The former premier is putting pressure on the present one by making scathing remarks on the present administration. The latest shocker is the opposition winning eight seats in Sarawak. All these show that the goodwill and 'feel good' sentiment for Pak Lah is fading very fast.

With the increase in petrol price, the hike in electricity tariff, and the brutality of police against peaceful demonstrators at KLCC last Sunday, one can see that the premier is losing the plot and does not have a strong grip on his political position.

Then there is the incident where the police top brass have openly come out via their website to say that they are against the setting up of the IPCMC. It speaks volumes of our enforcement officers who don't take too kindly to their political masters reining in their power even if this is to curb abuse of power and corruption in the police force.

One tends to think with all these salvos being fired at the prime minister with his back to the wall, these powerful and hidden forces will force him to be a one-term prime minister like the late Hussein Onn who was forced out of office due to his strident opposition to corruption and abuse of power.

Pak Lah's attempts to stifle corrupt practices have come up against powerful and rich individuals who have made it big under the old regime and who seem intent on sabotaging the prime minister's efforts to distribute the economic pie amongst all stratas of society instead of only among the elite few.

As long as his cabinet members and parliamentarians do not support him fully in this fight, one can see Pak Lah is a lonely man at top and time will tell if he has to make way for his deputy should the tide turn against him. Politics is the art of possible and for a nice guy like Pak Lah who doesn't like to offend people, he doesn't seem to be cut out to be the top guy in this country where wolves and carpetbaggers have no qualms in switching allegiances for personal gain and power.

Meanwhile, the poor public can only watch from the sidelines as self-serving politicians and their cohorts fatten their wallets due to corruption.

History had shown that political parties in other countries have fallen due to their greed and arrogance, and Malaysia is no exception. Umno has gone through a lot of internal turmoil in the past and has somehow managed to survive but as long as people's perception that its politicians are corrupt to the core is not addressed, the oldest party in the country will suffer the same fate as its foreign counterparts who overstayed their welcome.