I refer to the malaysiakini report Huge mandate: 'Pak Lah may have not it again' . Finally, after a lull in the storm, the chief critic of our present prime minister has come out again to lambast the present government with his acid tongue.

While the former prime minister can make peace with his once arch enemy George Soros, Malaysians must be bewildered to learn that the bad blood between the former and present premier still simmers over the new year.

Battle lines will be drawn again by the two opposing forces and we can expect Nazri Abdul Aziz, the chief cheer squad boy of the present prime minister to lead the charge (like before) against the former premier. To expect the former premier to keep his thoughts to himself will be wishful thinking as he is not known to back out of a battle no matter how much the odds are stack against him.

Although corruption was rife under Mahathir's rule, at least inflation was kept in check and the common people's rice bowl was not affected by the rising prices unlike what is happening right now.

The common people who voted overwhelmingly for Pak Lah at the last polls are furiously mad with his broken promises to fight corruption, rectify injustices and implement fairness and transparency. Scandal after scandal which caused public coffers to be depleted have not been taken seriously and big wigs who misused their power for personal gains are not being held accountable for their misdeeds.

A big swing towards the opposition parties is therefore inevitable in the very near future. The common people's rice bowls are affected by price increases which - rightly or wrongly - they blame on the present regime.

But Dr M himself cannot wash his hands of the present malaises besetting the country. He was the former premier for more than two decades and under his watch, corruption and abuse of power by his cronies went on unabated while mega-projects was the mantra of the government then.

Let us not forget that the notorious ISA was freely used against his political opponents while the judiciary was systemically decimated in 1988 when three eminent and senior judges were removed from office during the judicial crisis of 1988. The sacking and jailing of his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim sealed the fate of judicial independence as the perception was that Anwar had been convicted by a kangaroo court.

Our foreign direct investment seems to have dwindled as foreigners would prefer to invest in countries where the costs are lower and hands need not be greased in order to get approvals. Corruption and abuse of power by the high and mighty seems to be on the increase in tandem with social ills like rape, murder, and drug abuse.

Unemployment among our graduates is another sore point as our education system has not produced graduates who can think outside the box. They are mediocre in their work performance and lack both verbal and written communication skills.

At the rate we are going, instead of being a well-developed state with the best infrastructure and brains come 2020, the opposite will happen and we will have become a failed state like other Third World countries which fell into despair due to weak leadership and rampant corruption by the elite of society.