Dr Mahathir Mohamad must have ruffled a few feathers by saying Mohd Isa Samad should not be a candidate for the upcoming by-election in Bagan Pinang. He also said that S Samy Vellu should resign due to BN losing Indians voters to their rivals in the last general elections.

While one tends to agree with his acute observations on the latest political scenes in this country, one tends to wonder if the former premier is undermining the present premier's leadership skills. The present premier should have the last say on what he is suppose to do to reform the party and government to win back the hearts and minds of the public.

Like Pak Lah before him, the new premier cannot have a free hand in running the country as the shadow of the indomitable third premier seems to follow him everywhere he goes. Those who dare to cross swords with Mahathir will suffer the consequences as the old premier still has a lot of ardent supporters both within the party and the public.

The downfall of the first and fourth premiers is due to Mahathir's criticisms about the two leaders' shortcomings and the present premier has to walk a fine line in order not to make the same mistakes as his predecessors. While other world leaders who retire from office would keep their peace, the opposite is happening in our country.

As the Malay saying goes, "Kuman di seberang laut nampak, gajah di depan mata tak nampak". It best describes the old premier who seems to see other leaders' shortcomings except his own.

The old premier should know that "if you live in a glass house, you should not throw stones" as other might criticise him for his shortcomings while he was in office if he still persist on speaking his mind in public. It will be good for his image if he speak privately to the premier on what is wrong with the political scenes and let the sitting premier solved the problems quietly without fanfare.

BN is weak now due to internal problems but their rivals are not strong enough to take over the government. It will be interesting to see how the wind blows when the next election comes around

People are basically fed up with corrupt and inept leaders running the country. Yet, if the opposition front's leaders do not get their act together and continue to wash dirty linen in public, it would only turn away young voters from supporting them.

Please grow up and look into the people's welfare instead of indulging in petty quarrels which only hurt the Pakatan Rakyat image among the public. Need I say more?