To be very frank, I am disappointed with the performance of premier-in-waiting Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for several reasons. Some Malaysians may not agree with me, but allow me to air my views.

First, his repeated statements that he would not change any of the policies of outgoing Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad reflect a man who lacks the spirit of innovation, imagination and foresight. The global and regional economies, for example, are changing fast: how can the economic policies of Mahathir, conceived years before the 1997 Asian financial crisis, be continued without radical reform and fundamental renovation?

Can Malaysia go on with mercantilist and protectionist policies that not only breeds inefficiency, corruption, nepotism and cronyism, but also causes Malaysian consumers to pay more for goods and services, like cars, that could have been cheaper if and when liberalisation and globalisation are accepted?

Also, without downsizing public services that were built up during the post-independence and New Economic Policy (NEP) years, the taxpayers' money will continue to be wasted on low productivity of government servants who are often used to serve the partisan interests of Umno, MCA and other component parties of the ruling Barisan Nasional.

An example is the Information Ministry that has no more useful purposes in this age of information revolution and privatisation of news and entertainment services. Abdullah must promise to disband or, at least, downsize the ministry by retrenching surplus and unproductive staff.

Communist China, for example, has downsized many public services, including the number of armed forces in recent years, and the saved opportunity costs are reallocated to more productive sectors. China is also seriously combating corruption, nepotism, cronyism and inefficiency in the government as well as the state sector of the economy.

Second, Abdullah does not seem to be any more liberal than Mahathir for there is still no firm and public commitment made by him to repeal or, at least, review, repressive laws like the Internal Security Act, Official Secret Act, Universities and University Colleges Act, Printing Presses and Publications Act and Police Act, etc.

Malaysians are already very sick about being forced everyday to read political propaganda of Umno, MCA and the Barisan Nasional, especially the intellectually insulting propaganda in Radio Television Malaysia and the Umno-controlled media, like the New Straits Times , Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian .

In fact, new repressive measures have been added during Abdullah's office as the home minister, such as the Akujanji that denies the right to free speech of academics and tertiary students. The police have not changed or been reformed at all: it is still the political instrument of the ruling faction of the ruling parties.

While calling on Malaysians, especially Malays, to discard their 'crutches' in businesses, Abdullah himself should set personal example by throwing away his political 'crutches' in the forms of politicised police, repressive laws and controlled mass media. Abdullah and his party must compete with the opposition in the open market of ideas and level-playing field. Otherwise, his will continue to be seen by many as an illegitimate usurper.

Abdullah should also publicly declare his income and wealth as well as those of his immediate family to convince Malaysians and the world that cronyism and nepotism are no more in Malaysia, and that he is really a 'Mr Clean' as unilaterally hyped by the controlled media.

Third, in national defence, procurement of weaponry is still secretive, unaccountable and sometime, bizarre: how could our armed forces assemble effective and efficient orders of battle with Polish tanks, French and Dutch submarines, British and Russian fighter jets and American firearms that vastly differ in many technical platforms, and inter-operability and connectivity?

Others may or may not agree with me, or they may have more grievances to add to the list. The point is that while it is easy to criticise the retiring Mahathir, not many dare to critically assess the upcoming Abdullah. This is a kind of opportunism and careerism.

In his times, Mahathir did device policies that suited those circumstances and situations in the 80s and early 90s, and for that we must give Mahathir due credit. But, for Abdullah to unthinkingly continue those outdated policies is foolish, to say the least.

I think while it is the time for Mahathir to be assessed by historians, Abdullah likewise must be assessed by all Malaysians who are concerned with the present and future. Otherwise, Malaysians may have to live with political stagnation and economic decline for many years to come after October, with a man without initiative, innovation spirit and political courage at the helm.

Are we Malaysians going to replace Mahathir's cult of personality with that of Abdullah's? Is the psychological need for cults of personality compatible with true modernity of the hearts and minds?