There is a war building up momentum on the Umno political turf in Malaysia. And whether we admit it or otherwise, its ramifications are significantly spilling or discretely seeping into the frameworks of all political parties including Najib Abdul Razak’s coalition of so-called loyalist parties.

At at helm of this fast gaining disapproval of Umno's present political reign is Dr Mahathir Mohamad talking to the entire nation. And that is increasingly putting Najib and his coterie nudged into the defensive corner.

And silencing Dr Mhathir will only make matters worse.

Dr M may not be a much loved leader especially by all those quarters that disapproved of some of his policies throughout his 22 year tenure as prime minister.

Street opinion still holds that the mess the nation is into now is because of Dr M’s own political architecture.

But the fact remains that the steadily permeating disapproval of Najib’s decisions and actions (inactions included) as well as the conduct and rebuttals of his sworn loyalists whom Najib hand-picked based on his belief that between ‘being smart verses loyalty’ he would bank on the latter quality, is forcing a re-think among the people.

Every counter-attack aimed at Dr Mahathir is helping him in his mission to oust Najib.

While Najib and his team may align the forces to prove that the signature campaign led by Dr M is flawed and therefore diabolic, the increasing tide of public opinon these days is not centred on the past policies of Dr M but on putting Malaysia on a track that leads to a progressive democracy.

Given his age (born in 1925), Dr Mahathir is slowly but surely gaining empathy votes for his loyalty march towards a national agenda rather than canvas for loyalty to one man as it appears increasingly to be the case in the Najib coterie.

If one cares enough to leave the pages of news media and the comforts of their well-curtained offices and instead walks down the streets and market places it would not take long to learn the public sentiment for Dr M versus Najib.

That, too, explains in all probability and against many odds why even the bitter opposition blocks are willing to stand with Dr M even though they have cried too often that ‘a leopard never loses its spots’.

Indeed Dr M is again a defining factor for a turning point in Malaysian history. As an ex-commander whispered to this writer, “Dr Mahathir is a part of Malaysia’s history; and if you know what that means, you cannot write him off.”