It is not easy for Umno to have recruited a well-qualified young leader such as Azalina Othman. Top and experienced Umno leaders like Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Deputy Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz should come out to defend and protect her from being slandered publicly.

What Perdana Seri symbolises is an unhealthy or even poisonous political culture of character-assassination. First the victim was Anwar Ibrahim, then Tun Daim Zainuddin and now Azalina. Can Umno afford to lose its outstanding leaders by allowing people like Khalid Jafri to continue smearing others?

Umno should investigate who really is Khalid Jafri? Whos behind him? Who hired him to do what he did? Who guided him to his targets? Who will be his next target or victim? Why is it that no Umno top gun dares to stop him in his tracks or speak up against him?