I refer to the Malaysiakini report Mahathir quits Umno .

Dr Mahathir Mohamed has raised the stakes in his quest to oust the current embattled premier by quitting the party that he formed in 1988 after Umno was declared illegal by the courts. The former premier has played his last card and his clarion call for all Umno bigwigs - especially the elected representatives - to do the same is not to be taken lightly by the present leadership.

Previously, former presidents of Umno who left office after a fallout with their leaders had opted to leave the party and form a new one. Onn Jaafar, the founding father of Umno had to leave the party after grassroots supporters did not agree with his radical proposal to open the party to all the races during his time. The party that he founded - Party Negara - suffered a humiliating defeat at the 1957 polls and the former statesman was consigned to history.

Tunku Abdul Rahman and Hussein Onn, the first and third premiers of our country respectively, did not rejoin Umno Baru but supported Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah under the Semangat 46 banner during the latter’s power struggle to win the hearths and minds of the Malay community after the Umno was declared illegal in 1988.

How ironic it seems that by quitting, Mahathir will go down in history by being the fourth former president of Umno to quit the party after resigning from the powerful political post. The only former president of Umno who did not leave the party was the second prime minister of this country, Abdul Razak, who died in office.

By throwing down the gauntlet, Mahathir’s will force his loyalists in the party to make a stand and follow him in quitting in order to force the incumbent to resign as president and prime minister. As if it right now, Umno is on shaky ground. After being mauled in the last polls, there are strong rumors that a lot of Sabah MPs are willing to jump ship to the other side of the aisle to enable Pakatan Rakyat to form the next federal government.

One would suspect that the former premier is a desperate man to do what he did. Previously, he had raised the racial card in Johor Baru to win back Malay support. The Lingam Tape report where his name was implicated in meddling with the judiciary might have been the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Being the paranoid that he is, he must be harbouring the thoughts that his enemies are out to get him for his past misdeeds in running the country. What better way to divert public attention from the Lingam Tape controversy than by resigning from the party? The former premier still hasn’t lost his political acumen.

If Mahathir is a man of principle, he should also quit his advisory posts to the three top government-linked companies since he no longer an Umno man. His son Mukhriz should also follow in his footsteps and resign as MP to show his solidarity with his father. Indeed, it is a blessing in disguise for Pak Lah when Mahathir resigned. His chief critic (Mahathir) is no longer an Umno member and therefore cannot comment on the running of the party by his successor.

Dr Mahathir is a spent force in politics. Power lies in the hands of he who holds the Umno president’s post. Those who hold power command the respect of the masses. Once you are out of office, your voice does not command the same respect as before. The former premier’s tirade against his chosen successor did not resonate well with his party members.

If history is a guide, the former premier will suffer the same fate as his predecessors who ‘lost’ their voice when they are out of power. Malaysians politics is all about ‘pleasing’ the top guns in the party for political survival. These ‘eunuch politicians’ will not abandon the party as their bread and butter depends on them sticking together with their embattled premier for their own political survival.

On the sidelines, the opposition front is watching with glee as discord in Umno will only weaken BN and there is more than a possible chance for them (Pakatan Rakyat) to form the federal government come September as envisioned by the future premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Let the show begin and watch BN and Umno self-destruct due to their leaders washing their dirty linen in public.