COMMENT It's difficult to score - this one-upmanship game between Anwar Ibrahim and nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the matter of the opposition leader's recently expressed, and now reiterated, desire to quit should the 13th general election not result in victory for Pakatan Rakyat.

At this stage it appears Anwar enjoys a slight edge in the sweepstakes. He has succeeded in provoking Mahathir into publicly wishing that he quits now rather than wait for electoral defeat to induce him to do so.

Mahathir's ire has helped shift the focus to where Anwar would want it to be in the final lap to a general election - who is responsible for the lamentable state the country is in, and who is the politician who has been most prescient about its downward trajectory and the reasons for it?