To keeps the great unwashed happy and contended, the BN government initiated policies which kept them from rebellion: mindless education, universities by the score, foreign education on scholarship and bursaries, promises of Valhalla in the end. A political policy to cover up the rise of a well-educated UMNO aristocracy was put in place with no aim than to keep the great unwashed Malays in check. The non-UMNO political parties in BN did not have a say, not since the NEP, nor did they insist the dangers of this policy in the coming years. In any case, UMNO would not listen to them. If a non-UMNO leader in BN insisted on being heard, he would be warned gently of UMNO leaders who found their careers checked when they were near the top. The names of the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and the late Selangor mentri besar, Dato' Harun Idris, is brought out to remind them of their fates; if they persisted, it would be theirs too. They buckled under without further persuasion.

UMNO changes directions not that it needs to, but that its President wants it. But Tun Mahathir overestimated his own hold over UMNO and the government when he sacked, jailed and humiliated his deputy, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who took to the streets. A more powerful UMNO figure, the late Dato' Harun Idris, tried it when he was arrested for corruption and misuse of power when mentri besar of Selangor. He went to jail and disappeared into the wilderness. Even Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's revolt took him nowhere. Dato' Seri Anwar's did, and he emerged stronger than when he went in. The middle class, fed up with being held to ransom by UMNO and BN, took to the streets. Dato' Seri Anwar unleashed a revolution which frightened UMNO. He judged the ground mood was such that it would question UMNO as never before.

If he does not leave quietly, his fate could be of Dato' Harun Idris who refused to resign when ordered to, and was jailed for corruption. He cannot expect any deal now. If he does not resign, he must be charged in court. He does not know from where the attacks come. And if another high profile as his misdeeds at Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam should surface, even Pak Lah could not save him from prison. Pak Lah has decided the agricultural park is too important for Selangor to abuse, and wants Dato' Seri Khir to hand it over in perpetuity to the federal government.

He was a British subject from birth, as those born in Penang and Malacca. He was given an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for the CPM's role against the Japanese during the Second World War, and marched in the Victory Parade in London in 1946 with another OBE from Sabah, the late Tun Datu Mustapha bin Datu Harun, who rose to be federal cabinet minister, Sabah chief minister and governor. The OBE was revoked when the CPM rose in revolt against the British two years later. But not his birthright.

The Sabah BN, in principle, accept this usurpation of power. It did not object, on the questionable principle that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it. But not UMNO. They did not want Dato' Seri Musa Aman. He has been inflicted, since he was appointed chief minister, with the megalomania and political dementia that destroyed Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun who, for all his faults, was a far greater man than he could ever hope to be. But he rushed in to control the internal UMNO dissent by boasting of his close rapport with the prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and stepping on their toes every time he opened his mouth. Individually, the state UMNO leaders has had enough of him and want him to step down next month, and another from amongst them complete the remaining three years in office.

SABAH chief minister Musa Aman sups with the gods. He, as state Umno chief, led the National Front (BN) to another stunning victory in last year's general election. He is as powerful as the other megalomaniac in Sabah politics, Tun Mustapha Harun. His political patron is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He controls all that matters in the state, ignoring advice, consultation, the law.

When the federal government conducts its affairs so shoddily, could the states be far behind? When the UMNO-led BN in Kuala Lumpur cannot control its profligacy, how could it in the states in its watch? Especially when profligacy is encouraged of its leaders. It could not restrain the states for fear of a leadership backlash. The BN had kept the states on a tight leash, usually by make them beg for what is due, ignored local sensitivities, often forced on the state unacceptable mentris besar. Rebellion was dealt with severely. In the centre, the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim was cut down to size; in the states, the former mentri besar of Selangor, Dato' Harun Idris, was jailed for his political insolence.

I suspect the horror at this blatant use of state awards is not that it happened, but that it crossed the limit. The tirade against the former Selangor mentri besar, Dato' Harun Idris, in the 1970s for which he was convicted and jailed, was that, as Dato' Seri Ali now, he pushed the limit by collecting money for his election campaign by selling off state land for political power. There is a thin line between selling state land and state awards. Then, too, I recall a similar campaign against Dato' Harun. But it died down, and all chief ministers and mentris besar now indulge in it. No one raises a whimper now, as I expect none would in future years when dato'ships and state awards are awarded in return for political power. But in one sense, Dato' Ali did only what the UMNO leaders at the centre did over the years: they would instruct the state leaders to recommend their nominees for state awards; some were civil servants, but most were for BN politicians.

More important, other readmitted UMNO leaders were jailed or expelled for their personal failings. No political machinations were involved, their crimes nothing to do with UMNO or its politics. Though when the late Selangor mentri besar, Dato' Seri Harun Idris, was arrested and charged, it was partly the result of political pique; but for which he was convicted were rooted in fact that could be proven in court. In Dato' Seri Anwar's case, he was jailed because he had to be destroyed politically, that he had to be silenced, for his political arguments challenged the corrupt UMNO world view. But the charges could not be proved except by legal shortcuts at the cost of what little authority and respect the judiciary had after the removal of a former Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas. He should be in jail until he cannot be a force in politics. That was the intention. But when the Federal Court released him, it shook UMNO to its foundations. Rigor mortis and terror then set in.

He is returning to his former political position without holding any office. Too many were quick to dismiss him as an irrelevant nobody. He could not be prime minister if he did not rejoin UMNO. He is still a convict, the Malay ground looks askance at convicted corrupters, that UMNO would not accept him, so his political career is dead before it starts. This assumes much that is untrue. Dr Mahathir's political future was declared dead when he was sacked from UMNO in 1969. He ended up prime minister. The jailed former mentri besar (chief minister) of Selangor, Dato' Harun Idris, was elected UMNO youth chief from prison in 1974. Besides, UMNO is no more the only political path to high office. Kelantan, Trengganu, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak states showed that an opposition coalition could turn the UMNO-led BN out of office. With Dato' Seri Anwar with the opposition, there is no reason why it should not capture the federal government. He laughs at the UMNO dissarray, and if it continues, could well have the last laugh.

Malaysia is caught in its own machinations. With good reason. In the 1970s, Malaysia was a transhipment point when Libya transferred weapons and cash to the Moros in southern Mindanao. They were invariably transhipped on 17 December every year in the 1970s, a week before Christmas, so that the arms could arrive in Mindanao with little fuss and official intrusion. Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia's second prime minister, tacitly supported it, and the conduit was the Sabah chief minister of the day, Tun Datu Mustapha bin Datu Harun. News of this was well kept under wraps, but the discovery of a US$1 million Citibank draft from its Hong Kong branch to Tun Mustapha, raised more questions than answers. The money was widely believed then to be of Libyan origin, and it caused the same confusion in Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s as now. At the time, a Belgian television journalist went to Mindanao and shot some good footage of the Mindanao rebels in action, including shooting down of a Philippine Air Force fighter plane. I did the English voice-over for it, and we travelled to Tripoli in 1976 and to Europe two years ago to market it. NBC TV bought it, and aired a five-minute segment on its regular news programme.

It is instances like this that throw doubt on how fair and free Malaysian elections are. What happened in Kepala Batas is neither rare nor unusual. The National Front (BN) has done it all the time. In the 1970s, it was rampant. The EC stood by and watched, not helpless but by looking the other way, as the then Sabah strong man, Tun Mustapha Datu Harun, rode rough shod over the Opposition, buying or forcing them to withdraw from the election for a clean sweep. Those who persisted were physically assaulted, or their families threatened. One was tied with a dog chain under his own house so he could not file his nomination papers. Variations of this is seen in every election in Sabah since. The election rules are rewritten to make it difficult to challenge the BN. Elections, for instance, must be held between nine days and 60 days of dissolution of parliament and the state assemblies. The EC decides it should within the minimum allowed.

This would continue so long as the anti-corruption laws are defanged to make it all but impossible for the ACA to prosecute even if they had rock solid evidence to convict. If Pak Lah means what he says, the ACA must be strengthened to what it was in the beginning, when it was on the accused to prove he did not live beyond his means. Under this provision, it removed two UMNO mentris besar. The law was hastily amended to exclude that in future, and weakened periodically as the degree of corruption went up leaps and bounds. Today, it is a matter of strict proof, which is all but impossible for anyone who squeals is invariable in trouble too: under Malaysian law, those who give and accept bribes are equally liable. Over the years, the anti-corruption laws was a useful tool for the prime minister to keep his flock in line. He did not hesitate to use it when it did: that was why the then Selangor mentri besar, Dato' Harun Idris, was convicted in the 1970s, and the deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, two decades on. Although in the latter case, evidence had to be manufactured, the court rules made a mockery of, and rules of fair play consigned to the winds.

Pak Lah cannot act in half measures. The ground does not believe he or his government want to root out corruption. The National Front (BN) government has over the years defanged the anti-corruption laws that no one has any fear of being caught if they are corrupt. There was once a rule about living beyond one's means, with the onus on the suspect to prove he does not. It was this rule that allowed the first director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, who rose to great heights as a Federal Court judge as Tan Sri Harun Hashim, to interdict two UMNO mentris besar, of Perak and Trengganu, in 1969. It frightened the government. The ACA has been progressively defanged that today for all the good work the ACA does, it cannot initiate prosecution of the high and mighty in government if the Prime Minister would not allow it. So whenever the ACA investigate a cabinet minister for corruption, he proudly claims he is vindicated, he could easily spend the next decade and more in jail. That is still the law.

He had nothing but contempt for the Opposition leaders, but he reserved his venom for the DAP's Lim Kit Siang, PAS's spiritual adviser Dato' Nik Aziz Nik Mat and PAS information chief, Dato' Harun Din. His attacks on the two were nothing new, but is wrong on Dato' Harun. He calls him a 'coward' who said he would run against him in 1999 but pulled out at the last minute. Why did he do so? He had guaranteed a loan from a Malaysian bank for a friend who reneged on it. Whenever he said he would stand in the polls, he was threatened with bankruptcy if he went ahead. That albatross is no more around his neck: the debt is paid, and he would, I understand, stand in Dr Mahathir's Kubang Pasu. He thinks he is a cheat and a fraud. Then, pray, why did he ask for his help to drive the devils and jinns that surround his official residence in Putra Jaya? Dr Harun, I understand, declined to for no reason than that it should have been done before the forest, where they resided, was cut down. It is a fact Dr Mahathir had not had a good night's sleep in his official residence. This is why he opts for a private residence in Sungei Besi.

Under the BN's predecessor, the Alliance, not only did each individual member party but every power source - cabinet ministers, mentris besar - had their separate election funds. When an election was due, each contributed what each must, for a healthy election fund. But three decades ago, when the BN had succeeded the Alliance, this system was rudely abrogated for no reason than to break the power of the then (and now the late) Dato' Harun Idris, who was then politically destroyed as UMNO has failed to destroy its former deputy president, Dato' Seri Ånwar Ibrahim. The man who orchestrated this was the then UMNO deputy president, Tun Hussein Onn, who went on to be UMNO president and Malaysian Prime Minister. He invited the UMNO supreme council members to his house, saw each of them separately and asked them to declare their political funds. He made sure they did not meet the others to warn them of what he demanded. The sums he wrested from them were so large that he had them invested in the United Kingdom, admitting in rare moment of candour in his retirement that the interest on that amount was more than what UMNO needed to finance the 1978 General Election.

The Anti-Corruption Agency once had teeth: its first director, Tan Sri Harun Hashim, in 1969, removed two UMNO mentris besar - of Perak and Trengganu - for corruption. They lived beyond their means. In those days, it was proof enough of corruption. It was in the immediate days of the 1969 racial riots, corruption was a political issue, and the government had to do something about it. But once the two mentris besar, and a few minor functionaries were removed, the government decided the ACA had too much power over politicians, and in the ensuring three decades deliberately and systematically defanged the ACA into the toothless body it is today with no power even to prosecute wrongdoers. The ACA now is in the direct purview of the Prime Minister, without whose consent it cannot investigate politicians and senior civil servants. The prosecutorial powers it once had is now vested in the Attorney-General's Chambers. And it would act only if the Prime Minister orders it to.

Other ominious signs too frighten UMNO and BN. Dr Harun Din, the retired professor, is now PAS information chief, and a prime candidate for mentri besar of Kedah or Perlis if the Opposition is returned there. He was to have stood against Dr Mahathir Mohamed in Kubang Pasu but pulled out because of a heart complaint and a threat to make him a bankrupt over a loan guarantee he signed. That is settled and his health could not be better. He has a large following as a religious teacher, with several UMNO MPs and state assemblymen amongst his former pupils. Even UMNO admits its prospects in Kedah and Perlis are bleak if he is a candidate.

But when BN decided to up the ante and hold election first for the Sabah state assembly, in its misguided belief it could rout the Opposition, as its Tun Datu Mustapha bin Datu Harun could, and did, a quarter of a century ago with such strong arm tactics as tying an opponent under his house with a dog chain so he could not file his nomination papers. Those days are over. Today it is a federally-controlled and -directed Sabah UMNO that is in control, and its years in office denigrated every promise it made to Sabah when it took office. Instead, and much to the disgust of Sabahans, it became a loyal poodle of Kuala Lumpur's interests. One corporate figure describe the role of the Sabah UMNO chief minister as a branch manager to the head office, with little or no power to act independently.

The last time a plan of this sort was put into practice was when Tun Datu Mustpha bin Datu Harun, then Sabah chief minister and president of USNO, United Sabah National Organisation, in the 1970s, made Tan Sri (later Tun and governor) Said Keruak chief minister but held on as USNO president. Tan Sri Said was a lap dog to the Tun, blamed for setbacks and mishaps but not credit for successes which went to the Tun. It did not work. Tan Sri Said did not come on his own until he rebelled, in the genteel indirect way he had to the by now politically irrelevant Tun, and came on his own. By the time the Tun was a spent force. Now few remember him except to discuss the excesses of his time in power and office. It is a replay of what Dr Mahathir has in mind.

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