I refer to the Malaysiakini report Najib to be sworn in on Friday.

The date has been fixed. Comes April 3, our country will be ushered into a new future as the sixth prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is sworn into office by our King.

One thing for sure, the transition of power from the current Malaysian prime minister to his chosen successor has so far been smooth ever since independence. To date, the country has had six prime ministers who all have come from Umno but not all the prime ministers in the past have left office on their own free will.

Our first prime minister, the revered Tunku Abdul Rahman only resigned from his post after the May 13 incident while the present prime minister had to leave office due to his party and BN receiving a thrashing during the last general elections.

It didn’t help either that his predecessor, the indomitable Dr Mahathir Mohammad had been his chief critic and had openly asked Pak Lah to resign several times due to the debacle of the last polls and his (Pak Lah’s) inept leadership.

While Abdul Razak Hussein died in office, Hussein Onn resigned due to health reasons and only Mahathir Mohamed managed to resign on his own free will after ruling the nation for more than two decades.

Unlike other of the world’s leaders who rested on their laurels after retirement and would not criticise their successors, Mahathir deemed it fit as an elder statesman to give unsolicited advice to the current prime minister on how to lead the nation to his own liking.

And woe betide those who wouldn’t listen to his advice. Pak Lah as well as several ministers under him have received many barbed comments when Mahathir’s is on the warpath.

The public will have to wait until after Najib’s swearing in ceremony to find out who is in and who is out of his cabinet. While Muhiyddin Yassin is sure to become the new deputy prime minister due to him winning the Umno deputy president’s post earlier, there might be a major reshuffle of the present cabinet.

Normally, a new prime minister would like to have his own men and women who can work with him to deliver his promise of a new beginning for Malaysians.

Hopefully those who lost in the race for an Umno supreme council seat and those ministers whose hands are dirty or implicated with graft will deem it fit to resign voluntarily. Although not tainted by graft, Shahrir Samad set a good example by quitting his cabinet post after failing to secure an Umno supreme council seat.

People expect a lot from the incoming prime minister. Najib should be firm and fair in holding the top post in the government and his cabinet members should be persons of integrity. The number one issue which the incoming premier should addressed with gusto is the economy which has fallen victim to the world economic meltdown.

Najib should learn from history and should not roll back the reforms initiated by his predecessor for if he were to do that, it would backfire onto him and the new premier will lose public support.

The press, meanwhile, should be free to report accurately what is going on the ground without interference to win back their readership for which there seems to be tough competition from bloggers and the new media.

Needless to say, all the institutions of the government like the police, the MACC; the judiciary should be headed by people with integrity who will be able to resist pressure from their political masters to do their work without fear and favour.

Good luck to Najib in reforming the country for the better. Time is not on your side for you have less than four years to deliver on your promise for a new and clean government. Your political opponents wish you to fail in your mission.

But if you prove them wrong, victory will be on your side when the next elections are held. Don’t waste this golden opportunity to leave a lasting legacy when you leave office.