The principle in the Anwar Ibrahim affair, for which he was convicted and is in jail, is that power abused for personal benefit is corruption. The traditional meaning that corruption involves money is stood on its head.

The Federal Court affirmed this principle when it dismissed his appeal on the first set of charges. It is reluctant to hear the second set. It does not matter why. But it warns all in high office not to abuse their power for personal ends or gains. Why Anwar is in the mess he is in is irrelevant, even if he would not be if he had not defied his mentor and then prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But this principle is cheerfully ignored by those who should be terrified of its impact. Anwar is the evil one; he deserves his fate; we are loyal apparatchiks of power; this principle does not affect us, is how those in power view it. So it is blatantly and defiantly ignored as Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to insist they must be returned unopposed as Umno president and deputy president respectively at the party elections in September.

What the two top Umno pair has done is what the courts insist Anwar is guilty of. Pak Lah and Najib demanded of the supreme council to resolve that they must be returned unopposed. It did nothing of that kind. But both were present, and encouraged this canard. Indeed, Najib was spokesman for this view. It did not strike him as odd that what they wanted breached the Umno code of ethics, which prohibits coercion, campaigning, acting in concert, even issuing visiting cards, advertising, any move that asserts or undermines one candidate over another.

The Umno constitution defines how candidates are chosen: they must stand as individuals, not as a team or special interest; divisions nominate candidates by secret ballot; if two names are received for a candidate, he or she must be on the ballot. Pak Lah and Najib work as a team to insist they should not be challenged, and campaigns to that end. But campaigns are not allowed in Umno elections, so says its code of ethics.

Falling in line

Some prominent Umno leaders who disagreed with the supreme council resolution now say they were wrong, and the pair must be returned unopposed. They tell their supporters and backers they were forced to do so. This is not all.

Three weeks ago, Pak Lah met the Umno state liaison chiefs - who are, except in Kelantan, all mentris besar and chief ministers - to insist that all divisions under their fief should nominate only him and Najib for the two top posts. The Sabah chief minister, Musa Aman, and the Pahang mentri besar, Adnan Yaakob, report that their divisions implicitly agree to nominate none else for the two top positions. The others would fall in line before the divisions nominate the candidates this week.

This did not stop Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from seeking to be Umno president. The mainstream media and the official Bernama news agency, rushed in to paint him as yesterday's man, questioned his motives and his relevance in today's politics. It made him more determined and, frighteningly for Pak Lah and his camp of followers, brings him more support than ever.

Razaleigh has yet to announce his candidacy. The Malay cultural rules of engagement insist he must at all times be a reluctant candidate, and confirms it only when he cannot hold out any longer. There was never any doubt he would not. In one sense, it is timing. He is expected to make an "important" announcement in Kota Bharu in the next few days.

Pak Lah and his camp followers are in near rigor mortis. He has told his inner circle that if Razaleigh gets 60 nominations, two more than he needs to be a candidate, he would resign. This could be a political ploy to go into the race as an underdog.

His media pressure group, the New Straits Times, has reporters watching the Razaleigh residence in Jalan Langgak Golf to see who comes and goes. They are no doubt shocked at what they see. The motor cars parked outside it on a quiet day is enough to frighten the Pak Lah camp. If only it knew who have moved smartly to the prince, it would be shocked beyond belief. What frightens his media advisers is if Razaleigh would get 70 or more nominations. Would he get it? I do not know.

So desperation forces Pak Lah to concede that Razaleigh can challenge him. This makes nonsense of the supreme council resolution, if indeed one was passed. He must now insist the supreme council resolution is null and void, and all divisions free to nominate whomsoever they please as candidates for all positions, including the president and deputy president. Pak Lah must retrieve his declining stature by turning his back on the supreme council resolution.

Why Ku Li is in the race

How did Pak Lah land in this mess? He is ill-advised by a callow and self-serving group of well-educated but detribalised Malays who do not understand culture nor respect elders, who step on party loyalists and long-term advisers with impunity, who insist culture and tradition should not inhibit Umno in the 21st century.

It is a huge mistake, the likes of which not seen in Umno since it was formed in 1946. It alienated those Pak Lah needed the most. It is now accepted, even in the Pak Lah camp, that this group in its over-eagerness turned him into a liability.

Razaleigh hesitated about standing for the Umno presidency - the common talk is that he even considered standing for lesser posts, but that had no basis in fact; it was the presidency or none - but was forced into it when with each mistake in the Pak Lah camp, his own supporters met him secretly to urge him to stand against Pak Lah. When this snowballed, he could not, even if he wanted to, walk away. In short, he is in the race because Pak Lah made mistakes galore.

The forces ranged against Pak Lah are a motley crowd of his nominal supporters, the pressure groups upset at being sidelined, his own organisational disorders which stem from fear in his camp of its fate should he be defeated. He knows he is pushed gradually and incessantly into a corner, no matter what he does.

Which is possibly why he talks of stepping down should the Razaleigh gets 60 nominations.