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Having been all but wiped out during the March 8 elections, the Barisan Nasional appears to be none the wiser. Apart from mouthing a few platitudes about heeding the voice of the people, nothing has changed in the BN mindset. They are still as arrogant, unjust and disreputable as ever.

Many Malaysians are understandably reluctant to face the prospect of an overnight change of government thinking that the BN at least has had 50 years of practical experience under its belt - no matter how corrupt, inept, and racist it may have been. So they only wanted to slap BN's face and take away their two-thirds majority - but they weren't prepared to wake up the next morning to find a DAP/PKR/PAS coalition in charge of five states and the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory.

And now, to witness the rapid implosion of what appeared to be a monolithic institution, and to realise that the whole thing is teetering on the verge of total and irreversible collapse, well, I admit the Unknown can be very scary. However, the Known is infinitely worse, because it is rotten to the core and stinking to high heaven - and ought to be cremated or given a quick burial or it will become a threat to public health.

We can no longer bank on the BN redeeming and transforming itself. By now it's obvious they are incapable of it. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's self-serving choice of cabinet, his lackeys' constant heckling of the newborn DAP/PKR/PAS coalition even before their first month as the new government in all the key states, their continued use of the mass media to feed the population more spin and outright lies, all these are clear signs that the BN lacks the vitality, creativity, and the imagination to reinvent itself.

The Umno old guard is making a last-ditch attempt to seize the day in the name of race, religion. and country. They continue to believe they will be back in power four years from now. I'm willing to bet that four years from now politicians like Mohd Khir Toyo and Muhammad Muhammad Taib will be museum exhibits. Four years from now Najib Razak will either be serving a jail term or twiddling his thumbs in the Seychelles.

And I suppose Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will be applying for permanent residence in Australia. As for Khairy Jamaluddin, who knows? He might be hosting a TV talk show and making snide remarks about the government - or living next door to his father-in-law in Perth and operating a restaurant franchise.

In effect, the BN's obstinacy in the face of the collective will of the Malaysian people to see the ISA abolished once and for all - and all political prisoners released unconditionally - is going to be the last nail to be driven into the lid of the BN coffin.

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