I disagree with Lone's view that we need a strong opposition to overcome the normal frailties of man such as 'absolute power corrupts' and therefore we should avoid giving too much power to the ruling party.

To move firmly and confidently forward in a competitive environment that we have now, we need to have a government that is resourceful, forceful and decisive. We need a government that can and dare make decisions and defend it well without floundering on the way. We need not to have masters of rhetoric and polemics in the parliament as we use to have in the past. We only need to have honest and knowledgeable leaders who truly care for the people and the future of the country.

The ruling political party must be sufficiently empowered to amend the ground rules such as the constitution of the country as we need to continue reviewing these national parameters so that the nation could continue to evolve pragmatically in adapting itself to the ever changing social, economic and political environments both domestically and globally. We need to reinvent our economy and the legal system so as to be relevant in the emerging world order.

A country with too many opposition members in the parliament, as could be seen in some Asian and African countries tend to be weak as they spend too much time arguing away and defending their seats than doing productive work for their people and countries.

We need not put too much hope that politicians could counter each other effectively in the interest of the nation as most of the time they have their own selfish, personal and sectarian agendas, unless they are carefully watched by their superiors.

What is really needed is more freedom to the media as a forum for the expression of public opinion. The role of NGOs as protectors of public and national interests and the ''unelected" voice of the people must be at least patiently heard but not necessarily adopted all the time. Their leaders must be respected and not persecuted as in the past. Having said this, we must admit that some of the NGOs have become political platforms with some of their leaders having transformed themselves into unregistered politicians.

The mark of a strong government that is conscientious and sufficiently empowered is that they listen and learn. We need not be too afraid now that Pak Lah has made some political parties to appear redundant and irrelevant. We need only pick the best among the candidates - one that belongs to the most likely winning party and one that is committed to the cause of the people and the nation.

We certainly need to give our government sufficient power and authority they need to bring our country to its next phase of development in the prevailing ever changing global environment.