Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's unexpected resignation at the close of the Umno General Assembly (surely he was merely testing his party's support) and the urging by party leaders for its retraction reveals how unprepared his party is for his relinquishing of power.

Mahathir is not immortal so his resignation dreaded by many a Malaysian (though not necessarily by the opposition) will come to pass, sooner or later. Unfortunately his successor is not going to enjoy smooth sailing. More than anyone else, a cult personality has developed around our current prime minister.

Our problem as a nation lies in our lack of confidence in the independence of our institutions, particularly the legislature and the judiciary. It is often forgotten that these are also branches of government.

Due to the expectation for each Barisan Nasional member of Parliament to vote exactly as instructed by their leaders every time, the legislature has become a mere rubber stamp for the executive. As for the judiciary, we have heard revelations of interference, the latest regarding attempts to 'instruct' the former Court of Appeal judge Shaik Daud Mohd Ismail.

Mahathir has arguably the stamp of a political genius and we may not get someone of his calibre for a long time but his is a flawed genius. Where there is power, there will be corruption, cronyism and nepotism so these are not peculiar to his administration.

But these things reached their pinnacle during his tenure. And sometimes his remarks stray into the realm of racism. All this is very unfortunate for us citizens, including those he characterised as "foreigners".

I believe that before Mahathir steps down he must do several things for us. As far as possible, he must undo the effects of the above ills of our society including the worst excesses of money politics. He should let his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, take over his reins gradually and assume significant policy-making roles as he slowly fades into the background.

He owes all this to us who have entrusted him time and time again with the running of our country. He cannot just quit and blame his failures on others. The fictional medical genius, Dr Frankenstein, created a monster and the good (or rather, bad) doctor bears the greatest responsibility for his act.