Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's belated indignation over "money politics" belies one inescapable fact. That is, Umno degenerated into its present patronage-laden and graft-riddled culture during his watch.

An organisation inevitably reflects the traits of its leader, especially one who is so dominant as Mahathir is to Umno. While Mahathir is honest and incorruptible, nonetheless Umno's corruption is the predictable result of his brand of leadership and management style. His much ballyhooed Malaysia, Inc. concept, which envisions a collaborative partnership of public and private sectors, is in reality nothing but a camouflage for incestuous relationships between the party, government, and business.

At the 1996 Umno General Assembly, Mahathir openly wept as he lamented the extent to which money politics had taken over his party. Alas, such public outpourings of deeply felt emotions do not solve problems. Mahathir's predecessor, Tunku Abdul Rahman, sadly found this out a generation earlier. Nor did such displays elicit much sympathy. Unlike Tunku, Mahathir was fortunate in not being openly ridiculed over it.

As the crying did not help then, this time Mahathir resorted to loud and highly publicised condemnations. To make sure his followers got the message, he sent his boys to troll the luxury hotels of Kuala Lumpur looking for delegates who were on an all-expense-paid stay, courtesy of the candidates. The more significant but overlooked question is, where do the candidates get their money?

In terms of prevalence or even monetary value, such corrupt vote buying ("toll collecting") pales in comparison to the other rot that pervades Umno. Mahathir should instead send his enforcers to patrol the various ministries to make sure that his ministers, their relatives and friends are not collecting their own "tolls".

The difference between a lowly delegate whose expenses are picked up by the candidates and a minister's son-in-law getting millions worth of discounted shares of government companies is merely quantitative - the size of the loot.

When Mahathir released that infamous list of "cronies" at the 1997 Umno Assembly, few of these village delegates were on it. Instead, names like Tajuddin Ramli, Halim Saad, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and other party luminaries appeared repeatedly. I find it difficult to condemn or even begrudge a poor party functionary from being wined and dined while the likes of Tajuddin Ramli are quietly raking in billions in government goodies.

Mahathir's vigilance in stamping out the delegates' toll collecting while ignoring the blatant influence peddling of his ministers reminded me of the Pink Panther's hapless Inspector Clouseau. While the dutiful inspector was earnestly writing traffic tickets, the nearby bank was being ransacked in full view, with Clouseau blissfully unaware of the crime.

Umno is now clearly a party of takers and professional politicians. When there is no more easy morsel left to plunder, these political curs will scrounge elsewhere.

The cleansing of Umno must begin at the top. Unfortunately Umno's present leaders, Mahathir excepted, are, to be charitable, uninspiring and unlikely to undertake radical changes. They are an inbred group, rising exclusively through the ranks, with no injection of fresh talent at the upper levels. This spells doom for the party and ultimately, the country.

Its deputy president, Abdullah Badawi, has no private-sector experience. Stripped of his political appointments, his resume would be very short indeed. As leader he would be Malaysia's Jimmy Carter: honest but ineffectual.

Vice-president Najib Razak bears the burden of his illustrious father, Malaysia's second prime minister. Compared to Tun Razak, Najib will always be wanting. That aside, still it is difficult to find Najib's mark. The legacy of his long tenure as education minister is such that, despite his unabashed and endless proclamations of Malaysia being the centre of educational excellence, graduates of its public universities are unwanted in the marketplace.

The other vice president is that noisy advocate of the "New Malay", Muhammad Muhd Taib. What can you say about a man who was caught with millions in cash in his pocket? These days only dumb drug dealers out to launder their money carry such sums. Yet this character would like us to believe that his intentions were honest. The sad part is, his colleagues in Umno believe him!

Mahathir cannot control who gets elected, but he can use his considerable appointive power to demonstrate his abhorrence for shady practices. He should appoint to his Cabinet and agencies only those without the slightest hint of impropriety. I find it reprehensible that Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former Umno Youth leader and a frequent name in the cronies list, was appointed head of Bank Simpanan Nasional. He is no epitome of integrity or honesty.

Umno provides for its president to appoint 10 out of the 35 members of the governing Supreme Council. Very substantial. Mahathir should use this to affirm his commitment to honest governance. Unfortunately, his appointments have been lackluster. Mahathir's failure to attract bright and talented young Malaysians is an indictment of his leadership.

Mahathir should also prohibit immediate families of ministers from getting scholarships from or doing business with the government. Were there to be exceptions, the details must be made public and the procedures transparent. Such bans would also reduce the vicious scramble for Cabinet posts.

The Asian economic crisis forced the government to abandon numerous projects. With fewer goodies to dole out, the opportunities for the accompanying graft were necessarily curtailed. This unheralded benefit of the crisis suggests one solution to corruption: reduce the size of government and its involvement in the private sector. This coziness of party, government and business, an unholy trinity, contributes to the culture of corruption in Umno and in Malaysia.

It would take more than crying in public or checking out who paid for the coffee to stamp out corruption in Malaysia.