Having read all the congratulatory notes and all the hype about what are the hopes for the future, with the Lunas by-election out of the way, it makes me wonder as to where exactly it is that we stand.

The Prime Minister and all his colleagues in Barisan Nasional refer to Barisan Alternatif in a language that reaffirms in our minds that BA is an opposition party. To mandate that BA also goes on a tirade about various issues, in a manner no different from how Malaysians have been brought up to believe of the opposition.

Just picture the situation with, say, UK for instance. Is it possible to equate the behaviour of the Conservatives now in parliament with our opposition in Parliament? Do the Conservatives see themselves as permanently disposed to an opposition mindset or are they conducting themselves in a way that suggests that they are only temporarily away from the gates of power?

No doubt since John Major, there is now a new leader for the Conservatives, yet not only Major, but also all the other conservatives in parliament, and even those out of it, portray the notion that they could at any time take over the reigns of power.

They have a shadow cabinet. They have individuals whom the voters can identify with as possible successors to cabinet positions. That, to me, provides the confidence that is needed to ensure at the next elections there is a credible alternative that people can opt for if they get tired of Tony Blair's Labour Party. Not only do they have identifiable individuals, they also have economic, social, cultural, education, health, defence, foreign and other policies that people relate to. There is at all times another set of policies that people can look at and compare existing policies with.

What does BA offer Malaysians other than social justice, independence of judiciary, and some other carrots which appear to be influenced more by justice groups and mindsets rather than the reality of living in Malaysia? Funnily, all that BA seems to be aiming for seems to stop at ensuring Anwar Ibrahim gets out of the coop!

Lim Kit Siang, for the DAP, has proven time and time again that he can only see so far as denying BN the two-thirds majority. In other words a stronger opposition! Is that not a dichotomy there?

Barisan Alternatif would have me believe that with a name like that, they can form an alternative government to that of Barisan Nasional. However, the head of one of their leading partners cannot seem to think beyond denying BN a two-thirds majority, whereas another has as its mission the Islamisation of the country. The pivotal party that has brought about this marriage of political parties has, beyond getting Anwar Ibrahim free, very little to contribute to everything else that really concerns the people of the country.

I would like to suggest that this oppositionist behaviour would have been apt in a country like Singapore, for instance, where it is almost impossible for anyone to even fathom a country that is ruled by anyone other than the PAP. It might have been apt for Malaysia before September 1998.

To illustrate an example, the Congress Party, seemed destined to rule India like forever. Yet they lost. They won again and now lost again. Could an opposition party in India, during the heyday of the Congress Party, have any hopes of ruling India if they had oppositionist tendencies that had been displayed for all to see whilst they had been there? Of course they would play the faithful opposition party role while in such a position. But people should surely be able to identify with more than just a single individual before they would give them the chance to rule.

Barisan Alternatif has four years to go to show its stuff. Whether it will succeed in showing how well it has understood its different members and their roles as oppositionists during this time or whether it will be able to convince the voters that it is a coalition in waiting that possibly can take over the reigns of power at the next elections, is really left to be seen.

May I suggest that BA very quickly, but carefully form a shadow cabinet that will keep tabs of the various institutions of government. They should formulate their own policies regarding every aspect of governance and life in this country. These should be made known and compared with whatever BN does in terms of its policies. Most importantly these policies should be conveyed to and discussed with the various heads of government to prepare them for such alternatives.

If the police realise that new policies, should a new government be in place, may override existing policies or even criminalise some of what they do, they will have to think twice about exercising their liberties.

The same applies to the judiciary which would appear to believe that the BN government is forever.

The Elections Commission will realise that nothing is for certain anymore and their tenure can soon be subject to a due diligence audit.

What really I am trying to say here is that the people are used to the idea that BN, the cabinet, ministers, civil service, police, judiciary, health service, education, military, etc. are all one and the same. When the word government is used it is used in reverence and that encompasses BN, the cabinet, ministers and prime minister as well. Do Malaysians really know and understand that there is such a thing as the Executive, the Legislature and the Administration?

It is this belief and this definition that we have inscribed and hardwired in our heads that need to be erased. What is needed is to show clearly in peoples' heads that the disintegration of the BN's hold on power is not synonymous with the collapse of government. People should be reminded that there was no such collapse in India when the Congress Party lost. There was no such collapse when the Conservatives lost the last general election in Britain.

If corruption is endemic in this country, it is because those who indulge in it know that their contribution to corruption is not going to become subject to audit when a new government takes over. When you are so sure that the same BN guys are going to continue running the show and if you are head of a department, you find that lapses in your professionalism are not something to be bothered about because to begin with your first act of compromise of your professionalism was required of you by those you call your bosses. You then very quickly catch on the disease and become corrupt yourself.

How else can one comprehend how professionalism and ethics can go out the window from the hallowed halls of the Judiciary to Rubbish collectors in the back streets, who get you to pay to collect your dirt? (Note that I capitalise "J" in Judiciary and "R" in Rubbish as I hold both their acts in equal reverence... or should that be contempt!)

This is a message both to Barisan Alternatif as well as to the people of Malaysia so that we can all begin to view things from the right perspective. Also, for all the support that BA demands of us and that it gets, despite all the threats by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, I believe very strongly that the BA owes us this next phase in its plan to come to power in Malaysia.

If BA is only going to continue thinking in the oppositionist mode, then it might as well wind up or better still change its name.