I refer to your report Khir Toyo: Umno has lost touch with reality .

But what is the reality? It is well and good to provide a post-mortem and every Barisan Nasional leader seems to have an opinion. The scalpels are out for PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's political scalp and this is nothing unusual. Leaders of political parties that lose elections often fall on their own swords or are forced to walk the political plank.

The former Selangor menteri besar is honest to admit Umno's Archilles heel - ‘the federal government’s arrogance and insensitivity to the needs of the people’. He revealed he tried to do something about it and ‘suggestions were made, but there was no reaction’. Indeed, this is the mystery.

So who actually holds the power to make the changes? If a state minister has no power and can only ‘make suggestions’, who actually runs the state? And who runs the country because we are often told that Pak Lah has no power to effect radical changes? We are told his hands are tied, that he has good intentions but party interests prevent him from carrying out the reforms.

I am utterly baffled by the blame game and the passing of the buck. But I think the truth is no one wanted to make any change that could have affected their interests. The presumptuousness of the politicians so used to winning after 50 years in power led them to make a fatal miscalculation. Despite the loud alarm bells of the keris -waving fiasco, and the Bersih and Hindraf demonstrations, Barisan, primarily Umno leaders, treated the rakyat with contempt and paid the heavy price of the electoral backlash.

For his failure to display leadership I suppose PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must cop the flak. But Umno's dilemma is the lack of a suitable replacement that Malaysians respect. The suggestion that Najib Razak is the natural successor shows once more the contempt of Umno for public sentiments. The millstone around Najib's neck is the Altantuya case. Malaysia can't have a leader whose reputation is under a cloud.

Why the Hindraf 5 are still in prison is anyone's guess. For as long as they remain behind bars, they bear testimony to the government's folly. Everyone knows that they are no threat to national security and shouldn't have been arrested under the ISA. They are bugbears created by an arrogant government that shows no respect for their human rights, justice and dignity as citizens.

The revelation by Khir Toyo that Umno depended on the intelligence of the police special branch for political feedback is disturbing and there ought to be an inquiry into how a government department that is supposed to be politically neutral has participated as a servant of Umno, a political party. It is one glaring example of the abuse of power where government resources are used for political purposes.

There is no doubt the Barisan government is on the slippery slide to political oblivion not unlike the Golkar Party in Indonesia because it continues to show the same indifference and arrogance and proves it has not learnt its bitter lesson.

It is pitiable that politicians need to be untruthful in the mistaken notion it safeguards their positions. How silly. They may fool people the first time but not again. Soon the charade collapses. But politicians that serve the people and perform their jobs properly can feel safe upholding the truth and have the people's support. We can forgive those who make honest mistakes but not those who tell us fibs.

In the bigger picture, Malaysia is only a small country. The days when the country functions like the private playground and manor of the political squires are over. Umno can threaten all it wants but no one is afraid of the playground bully any more. The days of political elitism and patronage are coming to a close. We must ensure their speedy demise and burial.

Where there is good governance no Malaysian should ever feel deprived.