‘He has just five months left in his tenure. Since the prime minister wields almost absolute power, he can make many drastic changes before he leaves.'

On PM not contesting, to quit in March

Peter Yew: The announcement of Pak Lah's decision to step down in March next year contrasted greatly with his landslide victory in 2004 and the stock market yesterday sort of mirrored the same sentiment.

Pak Lah will go down in Malaysia's political history as the most ineffective and most unreliable prime minister but I have great hopes in the man. He had said he would deliver in the remaining months the goods he promised in 2004.

Will he? He has just five months left in his tenure. Since the prime minister wields almost absolute power, he can make many drastic changes before he leaves.

Repeal the ISA, free the detainees, reform the judiciary and the police, give the ACA autonomy to prosecute all wrongdoers, etc.

If he does, then he will not go down into history as a worthless leader as he is being perceived now. He will, in fact, be remembered as a man who in his ‘dying' hours found courage to redeem his worth by executing the will of the people.

Pak Lah, you can do it and we demand that you carry out the wishes of the rakyat before it is too late. Your late wife, Datin Seri Endon will be proud of you. Failing to do so will drag all of us down the road of destruction.

But returning the political rights of the people will ensure our survival. Watch the developments in Thailand today.

Let that not be something that will take place on our roads, in our cities in the coming months or years. The ball is at your feet. Score now!.

Jason Khaw: The writing was on the wall with the incessant pressure coming from all sides. However, from my perspective, it would be the end of a very productive term from many aspects.

PM Abdullah - for all his perceived weaknesses - has done more good for this country or at least allowed more good to prevail in this country than many other past and present leaders. It is ever so easy to criticise one's failings, but I would certainly remember and be grateful for his successes.

In fact, I for one would wish for him to stay until 2010. His reform agenda, though stalled and stuttered, is still needed. A freer environment to openly criticise, discuss and argue sensitive topics was one of his greatest success stories.

He allowed us to mature as a population. We may not have a new Petronas Twin Towers but we have a more matured (though still faulty in certain aspects) population.

I, for one, never imagined that this maturity could be achieved in my lifetime, not while under the Mahathir administration anyway.

But since March 8 and under PM Abdullah's purview we grew up overnight. Thank you very much PM Abdullah.

Balamuraly Doraisamy: Hope Mr PM will use his remaining time to fulfill his agenda for the Indian community especially.

Advise Samy Vellu to step down. He caused part of the lost of the BN in 12GE. The Indians can't rely on MIC anymore and this is why they are looking for other alternative.

Previously it was IPF and now Hindraf. It is not the MIC but the leader himself.

Ahli Mahukan Perubahan: Petang tadi Abdullah Ahmad Badawi telah membuat pengumuman yang beliau tidak akan mempertahankan jawatan presiden Umno pada pemilihan Umno Mac depan.

Keputusan tersebut membuatkan jawatan presiden terbuka untuk ditandingi oleh mana-mana pemimpin Umno.

Dengan kata lain, jawatan itu bukanlah milik mutlak Mohd Najib Razak. Akar umbi Umno mempunyai peluang besar untuk memilih calon presiden dan seterusnya menjadi perdana menteri yang baru.

Pilihan boleh dibuat samada memilih Najib ataupun Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Sekiranya Najib dipilih, Umno dan negara akan di bawa kembali ke zaman pemerintahan Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang bersifat authoritarian dan korup.

Manakala sekiranya akar umbi Umno memilih Ku Li, maka rakyat berpeluang untuk mendapat pemimpin yang mempunyai track record yang baik dalam menguruskan ekonomi negara di ambang kemelesetan ekonomi dunia ketika ini.

JK: The leaders see another mega-change taking place. On the surface, it seems it is a smooth transition but nevertheless it appears to be a forced exit of Pak Lah with some diplomacy.

To treat him such does not fit our Malaysian tradition but nevertheless it shows a change in tradition of a PM exiting to give way to a new PM.

Pak Lah should not be fully blamed for the current state of the nation especially when we see his cabinet team has too many `generals' as well as ‘chiefs'.

This episode should also be seen as a signal to BN component party chiefs like Samy Vellu for them to step down and make way for better leaders.

As for Pak Lah, he should abolish the ISA in his remaining five months. He should make the police force more citizen-friendly and professional, make the judiciary absoluetly independent and ensure corruption is kept to the minimal.

Such last-minute initiatives, which are within his powers as PM, can salvage his image. He will be seen down the road as having accomplished his duties as a capable PM at his own pace.

Khin Nyunt:

AAB must push to finish the long-dragging Altantuya murder trial before he goes. Otherwise, the case will be closed just like that. Three men will walk free.

On Uncertainty over Najib's reform credentials

TimoFP: Okay, lets skip the political-psychoanalysis of this guy and cut to the chase. There are some pressing questions that need to be answered before we take him seriously.

Firstly, where is private-eye Bala? Why is he in hiding? Why wasn't action taken against him for the defamatory statements in his first statutory declaration? Why did he retract the first? What scared the daylights out of him? Why the shroud of secrecy?

On that note I'd like to add that it was a masterstroke decision on the part of the PM to pull the defence ministry rug from underneath Najib. Otherwise, we'll have all kinds of power-abusive covert operations taking place like the Bala episode and the over-the-top ambush-arrest of DSAI

Setting up blogsites to prove he is youth-savvy and people-friendly are mere smokescreens that aren't going to do much to escape the fact that there serious issues to be addressed before Najib assumes the premiership.

If he denies the myriad of allegations hurled against him, fine, but he should explain the mysterious disappearance of a private-eye and why no action was taken against him for the damaging statements in his first SD. Failure to do so, could be perceived as an admission of guilt.

The people demand explanations and he owes it to them. If 'close-one-eye' politicians were bad enough, it now looks like we have to put up with 'hoodwinking' ones.

Najib come clean with the people if he is to be taken seriously while assuming the highest office in the land.

On Do it Pak Lah, call for snap polls now

James Chin: I would like to question the writer if he/she speaks for the 26 million Malaysians. 916 has passed, soon 10/13 will too, so tell me, my friend, why should Pak Lah leave such a damaging legacy as a snap elections.

Well, we are all waiting for PKR to take over, but like all things that float upwards, it's all hot air. BN and Umno need to prove nothing, they have the majority and unless all of you are blind, when Parliament sits, go do your maths.

Lastly, if an election is called now, Pakatan will lose at least 30 seats to BN simply because we have to remove the so-called first time politicians of PKR that do nothing, have done nothing and will do nothing but gripe and groan and follow their so called leader over the cliff.

PKR will be defunct within 10 years, DAP will be a fringe opposition party like before and lose Penang, and PAS will continue to serve Kelantan and Kedah, simply because the people of these two states want PAS and not PKR.

Since 916, PKR has been deflated and relegated to the ranks of the has-beens that they rightly belong to.

On The sighting of the 'iceberg'

Brian Koh: The irony of the Umno leadership and its pending disaster of Titanic proportions is that it not only does not want to steer for a directional change in the light of the iceberg in front of its eyes, but haughtily wishes to command the iceberg to move aside, so that they can proceed with their old ways.

I strongly suggest that ABB and Umno top leadership read John Kotter's best seller Our Iceberg Is Melting or Who moved my cheese? Dr Spencer Johnson.

On How Taib bullies the rakyat

Sam:

This chief minister, who has been in power for nearly thirty years in Sarawak, is now 'losing the plot' so badly that he is clearly demonstrating and proving a fact that has long been known by those who have lived in this state throughout his administration.

It is widely known that Taib has always coveted and envied the title of 'Rajah of Sarawak' and has therefore always done his best to destroy the memory of the three 'Rajah Brookes'. Indeed it has been rumoured for many years that Taib had a Rajah's regalia designed for himself in the vain hope that one day he would somehow be able to claim this title for himself and his family so that they may be able to assume the rank of 'royalty'.

Also it is a well known fact that in recent years Taib has become increasingly devoted to the study and reverence of the 'occult' and has a number of bomoh working for him to protect himself and his family from the supposed 'good spirits' of the Brooke family that reside on the holy mountain of Gunong Santubong.

I must admit that many of these rumours seemed, in the first instance, to be a little bit far- fetched. However, in the light of his arrogant announcement that 'I am the government' and the fact that he is trying to 'overcome' the memory of the Brooke family by building a totally unnecessary and gawdy new Dewan costing over RM500 million right next to the old Istana and Fort Margherita, it would appear that Taib's true agenda has now come clearly into view.

Not only is he and his family one of the most corrupt in the whole of Malaysia but it is also hell bent on inflicting itself and all of its offspring onto the poor and oppressed people of Sarawak for generations to come.

On Perlis mufti sticks by quit decision

JK:

Whilst it is sad that our young, talented and qualified mufti who has humbly decided to quit due to some annoying reasons, this is indeed a real loss to the state of Perlis and to the discipline/ profession at large.

As a student of HSC who selected Malay Literature/Kesusasteraan Melayu as one of the key subjects where one will learn quality puisi and pantun I would say his pantun was creative and

a classic piece of literature which was well-read by many including non-Muslims.

Well, nothing is totally lost. Such a talented man can always continue with his virtues and valid contributions on a new platform or in a new profession.

Good luck to you, Perlis Mufti.

On Ku Li: Reject delay of party polls

Sen Tyng Chai: A unity government -coming from Tengku Razaleigh, I am not surprised. Dare we dream it?

Kayveas said it, Tengku Razaleigh is saying it now. Merge the parties in the BN coalition. Raise the bar and dare PR to follow. This is positive development, however we spin it. Yes, perhaps the old system will triumph and change will be denied.

But I think the seed has been planted, and time will tell whether it resonates. Perhaps some component parties will merge first, or talks will begin for a third common party.

Maybe community service will no longer be party-run by Umno, MCA, MIC or PPP but consolidated to serve a broader area by a common focal point. Will the warlords come together at the grassroots level? Consolidation will mean there will be less titles to go around.

The political circus has gone on long enough where the ones in power today seem to be pre- occupied in ensuring their rule rather than actually governing. Anwar grabs the headlines by proudly clamouring for defections, preferring to ignore issues of ethics and electoral wishes.

Parliamentarians (from both sides of the camp) have done little to affect change, like freeing the press from a choking grip or upscaling the economy up the value chain to compete with the likes of Vietnam and China and India.

The average intelligence of our politicians, I fear, is questionable, but the same cannot be said of their character which openly see the call to public service as a vehicle to amass riches, massage inflated egos or satisfy the cravings for power.

Keep the dream alive, Tengku. We all have dreams, and perhaps someday, our dreams might come true.