As Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has received such an impressive electoral mandate, I would have expected him to have been emboldened in carrying out what he had promised. Alas, his choice of a cabinet belies this; he has kept the same old tired and tainted characters.

As for rooting out corruption, after the two celebrated arrests, the Anti-Corruption Agency has reverted to its usual lapdog posture of awaiting commands from its master. The highly touted promise of 18 other "high profile" cases remains just that, a politician's empty promise before an election.

Before the elections, Abdullah's cheerleaders rationalised that their man necessarily had to be cautious because of his politically precarious position and lack of mandate. Now they say 'Wait till after the Umno General Assembly'. Expect their chant after that to be 'Wait for the man to really shine in his second term!'

Abdullah has shown his utter inability and incompetence in being able to make the necessary tough decisions. Having studied his record of accomplishment (or lack thereof) while in the cabinet for the past two decades, I am not surprised. I feel sorry however, for the millions who voted for him in the vain hope of effecting changes in the country.

Now without an effective opposition and with hordes of adulators in the mainstream media, it will not be long before Abdullah thinks that he can walk on water, his public piety and homey humility notwithstanding.

We will not be doing ourselves, our nation and our leader a favour by heaping over-generous praise on him. We must remind him that there are serious problems facing the nation that cannot be simply wished away by giving sermons or appointing royal commissions. The bouquets can come later.

In 1982, Malaysians gave an equally strong mandate to another much more capable and promising leader. He impressed everyone with his great beginning, but after one praise too many, he began believing that he could do no wrong. The nation is still paying for that foolishness. Let us now be more cautious and prudent, lest we once again miss out on 'excellence, glory and distinction'.

What legacy?

Abdullah must not get wobbly knees. He must aggressively root out corruption and demolish Umno's entrenched rent seeking culture. He should have gotten rid of those with tarnished reputations and who have over-extended their stay, in particular the troika of Rafidah Aziz, S Samy Velu and Nazri Aziz. If those characters think that they are really that talented, then they should have no difficulty getting lucrative offers in the private sector.

Abdullah became prime minister at the age of 64, the oldest man ever to assume that office and way past the retirement age for Malaysians. Meaning, there is no hidden talent or possibility of a late bloom here. It is instructive that when he became prime minister, Abdullah considered it a 'promotion', another rung on the job ladder, the typical civil service mentality.

Abdullah was a nondescript mid-level civil servant when Abdul Razak spotted him. I have tremendous regards for the late Abdul Razak's talent-picking ability. Count that as a significant plus for Abdullah.

Yet having served as Education, Defence, and Foreign Affirs Minister, all very senior appointments, it is difficult to recall his legacy in any of those portfolios. When he was out of the government in the late 1980s, he was effectively out of a job, despite having had those top positions. That was the market's harsh valuation of his talent and ability. Perversely, his supporters use that to highlight their man's modest nature!

When he was appointed deputy prime minister, I wrote in 'The Malay Dilemma Revisited', "Abdullah is not known for his intellect or sense of mission. Nor is he inspiring. The only redeeming quality of the man, apart from his legendary honesty is his humility. Fine tribute for an individual or a friend, but highly overrated in a leader. He does not exude physical or mental vigor. He would be Malaysia's Jimmy Carter ( photo ), an honourable enough man but totally ineffectual."

His special assistant protested to me, arguing that his man would prove to be a Ronald Reagan, the highly popular president who changed the course of America. Reagan knew exactly what he wanted, and recruited accomplished and talented executives to achieve those goals. He was far from being timid or tentative.

Wrong prediction

In my book, 'Malaysia in the Era of Globalisation', I wrote this open letter to then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"The next [2004] election will be different. I predict that your party will return to power, [but will] be denied its two-thirds majority. Umno will suffer the humiliation of winning fewer seats than PAS. To add insult to injury, your home state will fall to PAS. . Nothing would please me more than to be proven wrong. Perversely, the 9-11 terrorists' attacks on America could prove to be your party's saviour.

"No, it has nothing to do with your swift condemnation of those abominable acts rather with the unbelievably stupid reactions of the leaders of PAS. I have never been impressed with the senior leadership of that party, and their behavior following those horrible tragedies merely confirmed my worse suspicion of them."

I was dead wrong on this last election; it was a ringing endorsement of Abdullah's leadership, and I congratulate him for his stunning success.

Malays have finally wised up to the fact that PAS is just another political party that happened to use Islam to achieve its goals. Even the least sophisticated voters of Kelantan had no compunction in withdrawing support for spiritual adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat. They may still revere him as an imam , but they had no use for his managerial talent.

This is a cautionary lesson for Abdullah. Voters do not care how well you can lead a prayer or how eloquently you recite a doa ; they care how competently you manage the country.

This last election should put an end to the puerile and terribly divisive exercise of Umno trying to 'out-Islam' PAS . To its credit, I am impressed with how successful PAS has been in attracting young Malay professionals, a lesson Umno would be wise to learn. As for Keadilan , this election should put to rest, finally, the political issue of Anwar Ibrahim. It is now time to be magnanimous and release the poor soul. He has suffered enough.

This election mercifully brought respite to DAP's leaders. These dinosaur characters have long overstayed their welcome; they should seize this opportunity to make a graceful exit. Do not suffer the fate of other ageing Asian politicians of having to be dragged out.

DAP was repudiated in the 1999 elections for its crass chauvinistic appeal. It would be tragic were Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang to revert to their primitive ways.

This election evoked feelings of joy as well as sadness for me. I am heartened that Malays have at last rejected the narrow and regressive interpretation of Islam as propagated by PAS and that we have now wisely separated matters of state from that of faith.

I despair that without an effective opposition, Abdullah will succumb to the all-too-human megalomaniac tendencies that afflict so many leaders.