As befitting his character, Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down after 22 years as Malaysia's prime minister with no less than a bang.

In his last few speeches to international audiences, he worked up considerable steam over his two favourite foreign policy topics - Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and the neo-colonising West.

But one major cloud still hangs over Mahathir's international statesman persona, and that is his failure to induce Burma's generals to reform under his influence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

When it comes to Burma, Mahathir's role cannot be understated. After all, he was the key Asean leader to push for its membership in 1997, in the face of widespread condemnation of the military junta.

His constructive engagement policy paved the way for Asean investors to enter Burma, so much so that Malaysia is today Burma's third largest trading partner after China and Singapore, with investments currently worth some US$600 million.

Mahathir became a confidante of Burma's reclusive former prime minister Senior General Than Shwe, paying at least four bilateral visits to Rangoon since 1988 .

His special adviser, Razali Ismail, was in 2000 appointed the United Nations special envoy to Burma by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

Unfortunately for Mahathir though, his persuasive attempts have failed to make much of an impression on the generals.

Rather, his constant appeals for the international community to allow the Rangoon regime more time to reform became fodder for intensifying criticism against Asean countries' reticence in advocating democratic change in Burma.

"Mahathir is known in our circles as the unofficial spokesperson for (Burma's) State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)," said a Washington-based Burmese journalist.

Last-ditch gesture

There were signs that Mahathir was keen on avoiding this particular blemish being left on his legacy.

In a July interview with AFP , he departed from his usual stand to say for the first time that Burma could face expulsion if it continued to defy international pressure for Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed.

She was under " protective custody " for three months from May 30, but is now detained at home after undergoing surgery.

But time was against him and perhaps even the Rangoon generals, who had failed to use the grace period to their advantage while Mahathir was still in power.

Burma watchers remain unconvinced that Mahathir's last-ditch gesture has made any difference.

"Mahathir did suggest expelling Burma but we don't know if he can be taken seriously," observed Fan Yew Teng, a former opposition parliamentarian in Malaysia.

"(This is because) After meeting with new Burmese prime minister Khin Nyunt at the Asean summit in Bali in , he repeated that Rangoon needed more time."

Although Mahathir's role has been frequently criticised, Fan said Malaysia should still not withdraw its interest in Burmese political developments.

"Malaysian leaders should be more forthright and engage in direct diplomacy to push the generals into coming up with a comprehensive timetable (for reforms). Nothing much happened under Mahathir so perhaps the leadership change may not be a bad thing," he said.

Leadership transition

Mahathir's successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is naturally no stranger to the Burma issue, having served as foreign affairs minister between 1991 and 1999 the same period when Burma was accepted as member of Asean.

In 1998, he became one of the first Asean foreign ministers to visit Aung San Suu Kyi at her Rangoon home where she was being kept under house arrest.

It is perhaps to his credit that Debbie Stothard of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean) - one of Mahathir's most ferocious critics when it comes to Burma has expressed cautious optimism over the leadership transition.

Although Abdullah's position on Burma's joining Asean was largely overshadowed by Mahathir's known views, Stothard said he had once warned against admitting Burma because of Rangoon's poor treatment of the country's Muslim minority, particularly the Rohingyas.

If anything, Abdullah's views on this issue may well have hardened. Having held the home ministry portfolio in addition to his deputy premiership over the past four years, it has fallen to Abdullah's lot to deal with the growing numbers of Burmese asylum-seekers in Malaysia.

At present, Malaysia is reportedly home to at least 10,000 Burmese asylum-seekers, of whom only about 4,500 are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Kuala Lumpur.

Aside from the Rohingyas who make up the bulk of these undocumented persons, there are also members of the Chin, Karen and Mon communities who claim to have fled persecution in their home states.

Unless things can be resolved within Burma, Malaysia will be forced to play the unwilling host to them for years to come.

Envoy's influence

A possible hitch to Abdullah taking interest in the Burma issue, however, is the rough ride ahead for him in the Malaysian political arena.

A looming concern would be his make-or-break turn in leading the ruling coalition at the general elections due to be held by next November.

Political analyst Dr Chandran Jeshurun said Abdullah would also be preoccupied by internal politicking within his party Umno a development which could end up in an open challenge for Abdullah's seat.

"Abdullah is now so overcome by Umno events that he does not have not much time left for foreign issues," said Jeshurun.

Still, there are reasons to believe that some interest in Burma will be sustained, one of which is the continued involvement of Malaysian diplomat Razali in the political reconciliation process.

Razali may no longer hold the position of special adviser to the prime minister (Mahathir) but he is still expected to be able to muster up sufficient influence should he choose to do so the UN envoy was Malaysia's permanent representative to the UN during the years that Abdullah headed the foreign affairs ministry.

Razali himself was dismissive of suggestions that Burma may be dropped from Malaysia's radar of pressing external commitments.

"Myanmar is a part of Asean and a big focus of Malaysian foreign policy is on Asean. With things as they are now, Asean would have to deal with the issue. Asean would not want to have continuous problems over Myanmar," he said.

The UN envoy clearly has interest in having Asean back up his efforts. Much will depend on his ability to convince Abdullah to work on this, and on Abdullah's own political survival.

Abdullah's quieter approach could work to the advantage of Suu Kyi and opposition groups should Burma's problematic membership come up for discussion at the Asean level.

"We'll have to wait and see whether Abdullah will make a difference when he has the power to make a difference," Stothard cautioned nonetheless.

Failing this, the most likely scenario would probably be the familiar one where Asean continues to hem and haw over what it ought to do with Burma.