I refer to the Malaysiakini report Kayveas: Samy has lost control .

By now it should have dawned on the country’s core leadership and aspiring and inpatient ‘political wanna-bees’ that it cannot be ‘business as usual’. The draconian Internal Security Act, the incompetence of the Attorney-General’s Office, the heavy-handed response to public demonstrations and the threat of imprisonment are certainly not going to solve or prevent a pubic outcry when things go massively wrong.

Worse still, questions are today raised whether the government is fully aware of what is happening on the ground and whether the incompetent, obese civil service and the little Napoleons within are frustrating the need to move forward by tailoring data, facts, figures to mislead.

I have said this before and I say it again – the government needs to think outside the box, the government needs to address dissent and the core and primary reasons for it. The government should stop all forms of action that can be described as a ‘witch hunt!.

The government needs to talk to people outside the government, individuals who serve in civil society and those who have no political agenda but a strong passion and love for the nation. We need to address root and real causes and having the political maturity to meet individuals who raise these issues instead of using the Internal Security Act.

The government would gain more nationally and internationally from the immediate and unconditional release of the ‘Hindraf 5’ who should instead receive a closed-door audience from both the premier and his deputy. This meeting should free of other politicians who are alleged to be the root cause of this particular fiasco.

All political parties have done so far did was to protect their own political turf together with those they are politically comfortable with for their own self-interests (as they have done from time immemorial!)

In the past Malaysia was a much respected nation for its moderation, fair and equitable position in addressing issues. However today, we are being ridiculed for our flip flops and hypocrisy which are blatantly seen.

At the time of writing, one group of politicians and their parties in the BN are divided or infighting among themselves to settle political scores and vendettas, while the second group quietly accumulates more ill-gotten wealth before they are thrown out of office after the impending general elections. The third - a younger group - quietly initiates a plan of action to lobby for political positions by using all forms of publicity stunts from allegedly helping the poor, the sick and the marginalised. They are nothing but political predators.

What Malaysia needs now is not a general election but a season for reconciliation, a period of time for honest political reflection and a postmortem to address the real issues confronting the nation before taking steps to address them with critical and clinical perception.

Action that will result in politicians and senior civil servants who are corrupt and selfserving being removed or retired and government policies streamlined and made consistent with the nation’s constitution.

That to me is the challenge facing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak.