In less than two weeks, Najib Abdul Razak , the son of our former illustrious second prime minister, the late Abul Razak Hussein, is supposed to take over the helm of this country from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

But as they say, a week is too long in politics and although Najib will be the new president of Umno after winning the post uncontested, it does not necessarily mean that the prime minister’s post is his for the taking.

The new premier will have to win the confidence of the BN members of Parliament in order to present his credentials to the King’s to become the sixth prime minister of this country. Although BN holds the majority in Parliament, it is still a small majority, less than two-thirds, so one cannot make assumptions.

The robust opposition, which have made known their preference for Pak Lah to continue in office, might be able to induce a few MPs from the government side not to support Najib as the new premier thus paving the way for Pak Lah to remain in office.

After all, there is no law carved in stone which says that the president of Umno will automatically become the prime minister of this country. Only those who command the respect of a majority in Parliament can be considered as the next prime minister with the consent of the King.

One tends to speculate whether there is more than meets the eye with nPak Lah and Anwar Ibrahim having lunch together recently. The timing of the lunch date so close to the day when Najib is supposed to take office has rattled the deputy premier’s supporters as Anwar is Najib’s main rival to replace Pak Lah as premier of this country.

It does not help that the ghost of the Mongolian woman who was murdered gruesomely has been resurrected by a French newspaper with graphic details on how she was killed and blown to several pieces by C4 explosives allegedly by a police special force personnel assigned to the deputy premier’s security detail.

As the day gets closer for the current deputy premier to assume his high post, one wonders what other skeletons in the closet will be exposed by his political enemies to derail his plans to become the sixth premier of this country.

Many people have their misgiving about the ability of Najib’s to helm this country as his integrity and honesty may have been compromised during his long tenure in office. After all, he was elected to parliament in1976 to replace his late father as the MP for Pekan.

BN is in a state of flux right now as people don’t seem to support it. The last general election was a watershed for this country where for the first time after forty years, BN lost their two-thirds majority in Parliament besides losing a few state seats to the opposition.

And yet their leaders seem to be in a denial as to their precarious position. BN will not reform for the better and win back their hardcore supporters due to the arrogance and highhandedness of their leaders who are holding top positions in this country.

Yes, Umno will have a new president come March 26 when Umno delegates elect their new leaders after their internal polls. This internal party poll will see the supporters of Pak Lah and Najib fighting for the party’s top posts and one cannot dismiss the possibility of Pak Lah’s supporters switching camp to the opposition front.

This especially when these MPs, who are Pak Lah loyalists, know that their days in government are numbered under Najib’s rule.

It just takes 30-odd MPs from the government side to vote with the opposition front to reaffirm their support for Pak Lah to stay on in office and thus frustrate Najib’s ascendancy to high office.

After all, if these BN MPs read the sentiment on the ground correctly, it would be in their best interest to jump to another ship which is sailing steadily on the high seas rather than being stuck with a bloated and sinking ship manned by a corrupt crew.

He who commands the respect of a majority of our parliamentarians will have a good chance to present his credentials to the King to become the next premier of this country. Does Najib have the necessary numbers? Time will tell.

Politics is the art of the possible. Anything can happen between now and April 4 and Malaysians must be on their seats’ edge waiting to see whether a change of leadership will occur in the coming days. Stay tuned.