Umno claims to be a democratic party in a country governed by a democratic constitution. Umno's legitimacy as a political party is based on this claim. Under the terms and conditions of its constitution, and in compliance with the Societies' Act , Umno must abide by free and fair democratic elections to select its leaders.

Umno's leaders are legitimate only if they achieve their positions fairly and democratically. Only if its president is legitimate does he or she have a claim to national leadership.

But the entire world can see that Umno is no longer democratic. Its leaders have pre-empted its own democratic processes with the backroom deal of a transition plan. After they have established that plan, Umno's incumbent leaders will then seal that deal with money rained down on division leaders and delegates. Umno is about to undertake the most expensive party elections in national history.

Umno's leaders make transition plans between themselves to ensure that the there is a ‘done deal’ as to who is president, and therefore who is prime minister, well before the rank-and-file members get to have their say in party elections. This subverts party elections.

The results of the coming Umno elections will largely be determined by the handing out money, positions, contracts. This puts in question the validity of the results of the party elections. Umno now relies on deals and money, not elections, to install its leader.

Malaysians are agreed on one point though. The country is in desperate need of reform. Our key institutions, the judiciary, the police, the education system and the civil service have degenerated. The stabilising authority of the Rulers, which required their independence and immunity, has been undermined by a previous prime minister and president of Umno.

Our national politics is at an impasse. We are uncertain and uneasy. Race relations could once more be a tinderbox waiting to be lit. On every indicator of national performance we are declining.

We are slipping relative to other countries on comparative rankings of corruption, transparency and the performance of our schools and universities. Our courts were recently found to be less independent than those of the Philippines.

We are missing the boat in the global economy while capital flees, inflation soars and our economy is stuck in a rut with no direction. Our best people are leaving us. We face the uncertain effects of a global financial meltdown without a plan, without a clue.

Reform is not a luxury for Malayisa. Unless we aim to regress into being a Third World Country again this a do-or-die mission.

This is not the kind of mission to assign to a man delivered to the nation by backroom deals and bribery. He would be exactly the wrong person to lead reform. Such a man would be the servant of the deal-makers, beholden to the money that installed him, and in complicity with everyone he has bargained with or bought off, whatever his good intentions after the fact.

If, further to that, this person had a scandalous record of accusations of corruption and other serious crime, once more he would be beholden to those inside and outside the country who have the means to blackmail him.

Such a man at the helm of the country would be security risk of the highest order (imagine negotiations over disputed matters with Singapore when that government's intelligence agencies have certain photographs or records).

I am not advocating that we go against the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty. But we are not talking about a trial. We are talking about appointing our national leader. For such a role, reputation matters a great deal.

At the very minimum, he must be person of indisputable good character, with an untainted record. I pray our standards for choosing a prime minister are higher than those a court applies for putting someone in jail.

And yet it looks like are about to have, as our next prime minister, a man with a thoroughly tainted reputation and a universal reputation for alleged corruption.

Malaysia deserves better.