The debate on who should actually succeed Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister of Malaysia is getting interesting.

Why is it necessary that the prime minister must also be an Umno president? Can't we do away with this man-made convention? True, as the largest parliamentary party with the most number of seats, the prime minister must come from Umno, but is it really necessary that he must be the president of the party?

Maybe in the past, there were not enough qualified people in Umno, the convention was okay. But, there are now so many qualified contenders for high offices in Umno and the government, why can't we make changes to accommodate as many ambitious men and women as possible? For example, Umno could amend its constitution and that of the Barisan Nasional to separate party and government positions.

Party constitution, tradition and convention are not god-given laws. They can be changed. Dr Mahathir, for example, has re-written many provisions in the Umno constitution after the old Umno was de-registered. We must continue with his daring spirit of reform and innovation.

For example, while Abdullah Ahmad Badawi could succeed as PM, Najib Tun Razak could be made the president of Umno. After all, Najib was elected by the most number of votes to be a vice-president of Umno, while Abdullah was not even elected in the party. By all indicators, Najib is certainly more popular than Abdullah in Umno and the Malay community at large.

Otherwise, Najib will have no opportunity for the next 20 years to be either the president of Umno, or the prime minister of Malaysia. By the time Abdullah retires as Umno president and prime minister, Najib will be a really old man. Then, what about promising Umno leaders like Hishammudin Tun Hussein? He will have to wait another 30 years, unless Najib gives up his turn half-way.

Similarly, the position of Umno treasurer and finance minister should also be separated so that more leaders will have the opportunity to show their talents and leadership in different positions.