Dr Mahathir Mohamad says that he has made a mistake in selecting Pak Lah to be his successor, instead of Najib Razak. This kind of succession plan in which the Umno president selects the future PM of Malaysia is the root cause of all the present problems in the country.

Umno has abandoned the most important democratic practice - that of a free election for the top posts within the party. Why? Because the supreme leader has managed to convince the ordinary Umno members that a free election will split the party. The case of the split in the party following Tengku Razaleigh's 1987 challenge to Dr Mahathir has been used again and again to convince Umno members that any contest for the top two posts will cause a split in the party.

This is a lame excuse for not wanting to have an open contest. But is the present system of 'no contest' a guarantee that the party will not split? Look at what is happening now. The ex-PM has expressed his regret for choosing Pak Lah to be his successor.

To me, the effect of that proclamation is far more damaging than an open contest for the president's post. We are now all ashamed and foreigners are now witnessing the most terrible opening of a stinking can of worms by no other that the greatest spokesman of the Third World, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

I urge Umno to let its members choose the next president of the party. At least the members will then have themselves to blame if they choose the wrong man. Pak Lah has become our PM because Dr Mahathir wanted him to succeed him. No doubt Pak Lah stood in the general election and won but he was only elected by the people of Seberang Perai Utara.

And because our system is based on a parliamentary democracy model, he being leader of the party (by virtue of Mahathir's succession plan), he assumes the legitimacy to be our PM. So, let's just get on with it. Let him finish his term, and face an open contest in Umno to select the best man for the job. One that commands the confidence of the rakyat, not just the Umno people.