I believe that the man that the country needs now - if it is too afraid of the reformer in Anwar Ibrahim - is Tengku Razaleigh or fondly known as Ku li. This is a man who has been consistent ever since he fell out of favour from the Umno books and eventually went into the political wilderness for sometime but having never lost his Gua Musang seat even though he being out of favour.

It is this man that started the ball rolling to induce Umno with some principles of democracy that it so boldly preaches but never practices. After all this while, it is a pity that most Umno members are only guided by blind ‘ampuism’ instead of heeding what Ku li has been advising all along.

Umno is bereft of democratic practices because of infighting which has caused a ‘party within a party’ phenomena to emerge. This character within the party has long plagued it with the knowledge of all but it was just left to fester until it has become malignant.

Therefore it is not just one leader, but an entire system that has to be revamped and infused with democratic principles of party elections and limitation to terms of office. What we are seeing today is the result of two decades of indoctrination which promotes ‘ampuism’ which is dictated by the amount of pecuniary advantage that can be gained if one were to give his support.

This has in turn created a party that is void of capable leaders because all the capable ones have been sidelined, silenced and even sacked because they could not and plainly refused to be brainwashed with this ‘ampuism’ indoctrination.

Ku Li has rightly pointed out that what we have seen since the March general election on part of Umno is constant finger-pointing and squabbling within the party without any effort to push forth for faster reforms to take place in the delivery service of public administration, education, health, transportation, foreign direct investment, employment and reducing the cost of living as a result of a global slowdown.

What the people are left to perceive is that Umno leaders (hence the leaders of the country) are not too worried about how Malaysia is going to tackle the tough times ahead by at least offering some plans and visions which can be achievable. Instead, they are still fighting each other by trying their best to assume positions without campaigning and taking on challengers.

By the look of the transition plan which has been postponed to next March (which will be exactly one year after the last general elections) this convention is set to be the rule in Umno for many decades to come if no revolution within takes place to put an end to this convention which basically bypasses direct confrontations within the party.

Therefore, generations of Umno leaders to come will assume that this is the practice and will continue with this so-called tradition which will eventually cause the downfall of the party in the very near future. What is the use of pointing fingers at other parties? Umno should not be distracted by them and play copycat. Democracy should be kept alive and leadership by example should be set by Umno.

The party’s president, deputy president, the vice-presidents and all should be challenged without fail every three years. Until this is practiced, Umno will not see the changes which will make it relevant to face the politics of a new Malaysia.

Ku li is right, this political gamesmanship will only see another prime minister emerging who will have to please his supporters who put him there without a fight and hence we will see a PM without leadership, courage, vision and charisma lead the country.

If today's generations were to subscribe to the indoctrination of this leadership hierarchy that is being practiced in Umno, they will have a tough time facing the upcoming and fast growing challenges in globalisation.

Therefore it would be better to heed the advice of the veteran who has been a man of principle since the day he fell out of favour with Dr Mahathir Mohamad and at least give him a chance to bring about change in Umno.