I disagree that Pak Lah has done nothing .

Pak Lah works subtly, maneuvering around the various conflicting interest groups or camps in Umno. He can't act hastily. He's navigating a minefield, so people should patient with him.

If he were doing nothing, why has he told Proton to go it alone and either sink or swim? Why did his deputy Najib Razak, who's generally believed to be a Mahathir man, announce his support for Pak Lah?

Wait and see and we may see Pak Lah do something, step by step.

What's clear though is that Tun Mahathir Mohamad is no senior minister or minister mentor like Lee Kuan Yew, which some predicted and it's also very clear that Mahathir is slowly being sidelined.

If Mahathir was that powerful, Jaring would have merged with TM Net by now and Minister for Energy, Water and Telecommunications Lim Keng Yaik would not have said at a recent press conference that a Jaring/TM Net merger would not be good for competition in the Internet market (much to the surprise of many reporters there).

Within less than a year of Mahathir stepping down, Jaring got its Network Facilities Provider licence and launched its wireless broadband service over its own infrastructure (partly at least).

I rest my case.