Dr Mahathir Mohamad complains that the ministers who are under the leadership of Pak Lah now were the very same ones who were in his cabinet during his tenure. "Why did they not voice their opinions then and object when they were in his cabinet?" he asks now.

It is obvious that Mahathir surrounded himself with a bunch of 'yes men'. Men who were also MPs and who had never made decisions based on their conscience or voicing their own opinions. They had to "toe the line" throughout their political careers.

Of course, within Umno, there have been leaders with a conscience, leaders with a sense of responsibility to the rakyat. Whether their opinions and decisions were right or wrong they were leaders who wanted to voice their opinions during the tenure of Mahathir. The last one that voiced his opinion was thrown in prison, stripped, punched to near death and left to rot for six years in jail.

Another one was made to look like a fool and died recently as a nobody within Umno. The one before that - recently made a Tun - was asked to leave and sent overseas where he could do no harm. There was also the royalty from Kelantan who was an economist and former finance minister. He too was ousted.

So here is a trail of those who spoke up, their political lives shortened so as not to be a threat. Dr Mahathir, in short, is an insecure man who cannot work with talent. Unless one is subservient to him, he will not tolerate opposing views. He will have your head on a platter as many have experienced.

So who is left? Look at the current cabinet and you know who the indecisive, weak and slow leaders are. After all, they are leaders who have survived the Mahathir era. They have not gotten so far without a reason. So Mahathir's statement that he is in the habit of choosing the wrong person is not far from wrong. He should add that he is not in the habit of keeping the right people as well.