Since the so-called ‘tsumami’ swept away its two-thirds parliamentary majority and control of five states in the March general election, Barisan Nasional has clearly been faced with the imperative to reform itself or die.

So I’ve been increasingly puzzled to see no sign of improvement. Even Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s single token progressive move, the inclusion of law-reform zealot Zaid Ibrahim in his cabinet, has come to nothing. And populist posturings by minority coalition parties like Gerakan and the PPP have been routinely spurned.