When Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak came to power in 2009, the BN under his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was in shambles as the ruling coalition had lost its two-thirds majority for the first time since 1969.

But Najib carried with him the advantage of the legacy of his father, Abdul Razak Hussein, a respectable Malay leader who also came to power when the ruling coalition was at its weakest, and succeeded in reversing its fortunes.

Najib even had the backing of the fourth prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who admitted that he owed a debt of gratitude to Razak...