I note that the PM has urged the non-sultanate states to enforce laws to prevent people of different religions from spreading their beliefs to Muslims. Why make this call only after almost 50 years of independence?

He also said he kept reminding people to avoid debating religious issues as it could cause racial tension, yet in making the call to states like Penang to enforce an anti-proselytising law to protect Islam, hasn't he raised the sensitive issue himself?

Recently he has clamped down hard on the Article 11 forums. He even accused those who continued with the Article 11 activities as wanting the Interfaith Commission (IFC) to be formed.

That accusation has been nonsense. He knows the Article 11 activities have been about a secular issue, namely the constitutional and fundamental rights of citizens, whereas the IFC has been about seeking amicable dialogue and conciliation among the various religions.

And the crme de la crme (if we can even term it that) of its hypocrisy or failure as a government, the cabinet has been deafening in its silence over the death threats against human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz, because of Malik's direct involvement in Article 11 activities and indirectly, the Lina Joy apostasy case. Commendably, Abim has been the first to speak up in defence for Malik.

Given all these, Umno's ministers' behaviour and utterances, may we extrapolate them as preparations for a holier-than-thou battle to come with its arch enemy PAS?

Mind you, the PM has pooh-pooh-ed away media queries that the Barisan Nasional (BN) might call for an early general election to exploit the beneficial political fallout from the implementation of the 9th Malaysia Plan.

He said BN had received an overwhelming mandate from the people in the last general election, adding: "The mandate is for a five-year term. So why must we unnecessarily call for an election in the second or third year?"

But then, that mandate was way before the PM faced a worrying situation of an Umno increasingly losing credibility among the constituencies in the heartland, thanks to not just one, but two loose Umno cannons in the persons of former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the PM's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.