Why must the prime minister quit the Umno presidency so soon? Why the pressure on him to do so? Something is definitely not right here.

The prime minister, affectionately called Pak Lah, is known to be a soft-spoken man. He may have his weak points, as do the other leaders aspiring to take his place, but a Machiavellian politician Pak Lah is not.

His political decisions many a time have defied logic and were quite unreasonable. I would go as far as saying that some of his past actions on national issues were based on sheer indifference and at times, ignorance.

I blame him for absorbing without question all the wrong information he gets from his trusted allies. He at least should have a stand of his own on issues pertinent to the country. Unfortunately, he seems to lack this acumen. Although he is a nice guy, Pak Lah is to naïve when confronted with major national issues that eventually led to a chink in Barisan Nasional and a fissure in Umno. I blame him and also those around him for what has happened.

Being too simple a man, he is not able to control those aspiring politicians waiting to finish him off. As for not being a shrewd politician, he is not able to - or decides not to - play his cards well to counter his aspiring contenders within Umno.

He must realise that they too have some skeletons in the closet that could be exposed. At the moment, he has been quite reluctant to do so. This could possibly be out of sheer timidity. He may decide to do so when he is cornered. The battle has not ended yet for Pak Lah. Despite all the criticisms against him, he could still strike back.

However, some of his knee-jerk reactions to many important national issues in the past have not gone down well with the people. He failed to control extremist Umno members. He was not swift enough to tackle the many racial and religious issues afflicting Malaysians. He chose to remain silent on all controversial issues.

On the economic front, he has shown little clout. Unfortunately, the escalating fuel price, inflation and the bad shape of the world economy in general, have added salt to injury. The timing is just not right for him, as nothing has turned out to be in his favour.

On March 8, BN lost the two-thirds majority in parliament. Five states fell to the opposition. All the political tricks against Anwar Ibrahim - who helmed the opposition throughout the campaign period - backfired.

Later, in the Permatang Pauh by-election, Anwar won with a big majority and this dented Pak Lah and his deputy’s image even more. But, the whole scenario leading to the success of Anwar has also dented the image of the other Umno and BN leaders.

Pak Lah alone is not the factor for BN’s miserable performance in politics. The failure of Umno is a collective responsibility. Umno leaders should all be responsible for their dismal performance after about 50 years of independence.

They should realise that politics based on race are not going to make them popular anymore. Arrogance and a bossy attitude towards BN component parties and the opposition are not going to please the non-Malays and the Malays of this generation. Corruption, cronyism and police and judicial injustice are not going to make the people forgive Umno and BN. These are the sentiments on the ground now.

The fact is that, the March 8 general election has neutralised the people. DAP is no more perceived as a chauvinistic party by many Malays who went as far as voting for the party. PAS is now seen as a much liberalised religious party based on seeking justice - the basic tenet of Islam - for all Malaysians rather than harping on old issues. The non-Malays voted for them in droves. Parti Keadilan Rakyat has established itself as a party for all races and religions. It has the most number of parliamentary seats in the opposition front.

For all that has happened, it is unfair to blame Pak Lah alone. The fuel price, scandals involving politicians, corruption, inflation and the many issues involving the judiciary and the police should be the collective responsibility of all Umno and BN leaders.

They took for granted that the people would continue voting for them despite all this negativity. They have been proven wrong. The target of criticism during the recent general election was not Pak Lah alone. Many others were targeted, including his deputy and other BN leaders. The people in general were aspiring for a change.

Thus, calling Pak Lah alone to leave now is a gross injustice to him. Others responsible within Umno and BN should also relinquish their posts if the intention is to bring improvement to the party and country.

Harping on the transition of leadership between Pak Lah and his deputy and pushing Pak Lah to leave too soon and unceremoniously will see more cracks within Umno and this will further wreck the already fragile party.