There is no way of escaping this fracas between the former PM and the current PM of Malaysia. I have tried to abstain from commenting on this strange phenomenon, expecting it to subside after a while. Instead, it has picked up momentum.

Indeed, the opening of wounds and washing of dirty linen in public between the nation's two top-most personages in public life is getting to be a little discomforting, even for a hardened cynic like me.

Foreign investors must be watching this continuing soap opera with some trepidation, wondering where all these cuts and thrusts of verbal barbs will lead to. The market is nervous enough as it is, what with the situation in the Middle East putting pressure on oil prices, and no news seems to be good news these days.

After all, political stability is the pre-requisite for attracting investors' confidence, among other things. The full frontal assault on a serving administration is bound to cause confusion among a population too long addicted to the idea that no public criticism of the government of the day can go unpunished.

This is serious business. The target of much publicised attacks is a serving PM, in a country where - by silent convention - such vicious criticism against a PM is unheard of in the public domain.

Whenever I write for the Chinese papers, I am told by the editors that I can criticise practically everything under the sun, except the PM and his pet projects. This is especially so when, towards the end of the year, their publishing license and their printing permit are up for renewal by officials directly under the jurisdiction of the PM.

Coverage of public interest

In practice, the PM would not have to give personal and clear-cut instructions on such limitation of public criticisms against him. His underlings would know what to do. And the editors are very good at reading the faces of the bureaucrats in the Home Ministry, and at practising prudent self-censorship.

But what can you do when the public criticism against a PM comes from the very former PM who re-wrote the rules of politics in Malaysia in many ways for two decades? By Jove, he was the very person who put in place those written and unwritten limitations on freedom of speech in the first place!

Besides, the press always thrives on controversies and confrontations. Coverage of open quarrels sells newspapers and magazines. Even the verbal war between artistes sells like hot cake. The head-on collision between the nation's two top politicians is bound to generate intense interest among people hungry for a little distraction from their daily struggle for existence in the concrete jungle.

Then there is the matter of public interest.

The former PM's criticism of the current PM has been focused on some of the most contentious issues with crucial bearing on our national interest and involving billions of our public money. Usually, people are kept in the dark on such top-notch decision-making as building a strange and foolish looking half bridge linking Johore and Singapore, as well as corporate strategy on running our car industry.

The declassifying of official secrets and the revelation from other shakers and movers of the nation has opened the eyes of the public to the mysterious working within the inner sanctum of government. Without a doubt, this is very news-worthy materials for the press.

So the acrimonious open bleeding among the nation's political elite grinds on daily. One cannot help but speculate as to the reason why the former PM has chosen to do the unconventional thing.

There are no hard and fast rules on what a retired PM should do. But having retired from government after two decades at its helm, is he not already a very prominent senior statesman in the country, and therefore, is he not supposed to be above the fray, so to speak, transcending all factional disputes and the nitty-gritty issues of running of government machinery?

In extra-ordinary circumstances, such as in time of imminent war or natural disaster, one can even expect the retired PM to lend his prestige to the cause of rallying the entire nation to face the grave challenge at hand. That would befit his status as the elder among elders in the country, continuing to express his concern for the welfare of the nation in an unobtrusive manner.

Difficult to retire gracefully

Instead, for a few months now, the former PM has come out with his guns blaring, like the aged gunslinger in America's Wild West, looking for his last hurrah! One must wonder: during these sunset golden years of his life, does he not want to spend more time relaxing in his garden, playing with his grandchildren, as Marlon Brando did in The Godfather? Is he not human after all?

One can understand how difficult it is for a person devoted to a distinguished career in public life to retire - gracefully.

All public figures - without exception - are addicted to the limelight of public attention. I know of some such public figures who would doubt their own existence if their faces do not appear in the press for even one day. After a whole life basked in national attention, retirement must seem like exile.

Then there are those loyal followers who would not allow him to retire gracefully. Perhaps their fame and fortune have been made under his two decade tenure as PM. Perhaps they have since been sidelined, after the changing of the guards. I can only imagine how they would bug the former PM with their privileged information and their bile-laden analysis. Their plea for justice must have tugged upon the heart-strings of a retired warrior who has valued personal loyalty as one of the codes he lives by.

Then there is the matter of political legacy. A retired PM likes to be remembered for his unique contributions to the growth of the country. That is why a strongman leader also tends to build monuments as testimony to his once glorious past. If his successor is seen to be making decisions dismantling those monuments, the temptation to feel betrayed and belittled is irresistible.

Whatever the reason, the former PM has now appeared more critical than the most critical opposition leader. He also has more access to the media than any opposition leader, through various platforms that he has created for himself.

It must be extremely uncomfortable for the current administration to deal with such scathing criticism from someone who was once your top leader. You cannot shut him up, and you cannot arrest him under the ISA. You cannot ignore him altogether either, seeing that he is a living icon among Malaysians and that he still exerts considerable influence within Umno and among the Malays as well.

So far the current PM has done the prudent thing, playing the role of senior statesman, mumbling about the Nine Malaysian Plan that not many people are talking about. Keeping mum turned out to be not that viable after all, and he has been compelled to answer some extremely personal attacks, not least of which is the affair with his maverick son-in-law.

He is in an unenviable position, suffering from such humiliation as has never been visited upon any of all the previous prime ministers. Sometimes I wonder. Beneath his typically stoic persona, does he not feel resentment at all for his predecessor's lack of political grace?

Doing the dirty work

Of course, he has his usual coterie of cabinet ministers and Umno luminaries to defend him and do his dirty work of insulting the former PM. More and more such personages seem to be joining in the fray daily, keeping this bizarre scrappy affair going in the media by the day.

Therefore, political commentators and ordinary citizens are put into such a position that they must compare between the former PM and the current PM. I have received e-mails in response to my writing, stating why one or the other PM is a better for the country. It does go to show you how unhealthy our political culture is, that the future of a whole nation has to depend on the quality of one person, even is that person is the PM of Malaysia!

As for the mythical public, I wonder how this open enmity between the two VVIPs is affecting their daily life. They would be amused for sure. But the issues involved are too remote and too big from their total immersion in the mundane business of daily living.

As for me, I am anticipating the undercurrents within Umno to fester beneath the surface for a while to come.. Events leading to, and issuing forth from, the next Umno general assembly would be fascinating to watch.

Zainah Anwar, writing on the late Tun Hussein Onn in the NST on 11.8.06, quoted this former PM as saying:

"I would rather be politically unpopular than fail in my duty. What is one's political future compared to one's responsibility? It's better if they curse me now than urinate on my grave later."

Hmm, that is very sobering and suggestive thought!