Separation of power

Former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief A Kadir Jasin has some interesting points in his latest posting on the political drama in Malaysia.

At the very least Dr Mahathir’s mention of Tengku Razaleigh should set the people, especially Umno members, thinking that there is more than one person that can take over from Abdullah sooner or later.

Another possibility is it could set Umno members thinking about the wisdom of separating the post of party President and the Prime Minister. A future Umno President may not necessarily become the Prime Minister or want to assume the post.

Will members of the United Malays National Organisation take it seriously as it sounds like a good idea to decentralise power in Malaysia?

Don't bet on it.

Umno has not been able to change much since it was set up in 1946. It's still controlled by the 2,000-odd warlords who effectively pick the country's PM through their choice of party president. By convention, Umno president becomes PM.