I refer to the Malaysiakini report Hudud laws - Anwar must clarify Pakatan's stand.

If he agrees to hudud he will lose the support of the DAP, a large section of PKR and liberal Malaysia. If he does otherwise, he alienates PAS and conservative Muslims. He is in this situation because of poor leadership. Spending time and resources in the wrong places instead of being focussed on team- building and team-working within Pakatan Rakyat.

He is in trouble and PR may break up. Saying one thing to one group and saying another to a different group cannot work here. He will need to make his stand clear. Nothing short of a press conference with all the main leaders of the PR coalition can save his day. Silence is no longer golden. Silence will add to the uncertainties, and leadership is about removing uncertainties.

Back in July, to the anger of some Anwar supporters, I said that Anwar is not PM material (yet) as he still is lacking with what I coined ‘Group-to-Group’ skills – a management idea I built and teach in a change management programme.

Essentially, Group-to-Group skills is the ability to lead differing groups of people towards a common goal. In business, it is the different business entities or departments; in Malaysian politics it is the various ethnic, territorial (like Sabah and Sarawak) and social groupings.

Basically, the number one job of a leader is to ensure every group moves towards the goal at the same rate of efficiency but be faster than the competition. I suggested then that due to Anwar’s lack of this skill, the PR coalition will not last one year and this episode may just proof my point. But PR still has till March 8, 2009

My sentiments about Anwar’s inability go back a long time, when he was still in the good books of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and was a favourite in the BN government. I predicted in the early 90s that his journey to be the PM is going to be real tough.

I also predicted then that Pak Lah was the likely candidate (though I was wrong then to suggest that he will last three terms!). The first time I saw Pak Lah’s likelihood to be a PM, I was 16 years old (1980). Then, I had followed my father to an Umno gathering in Kampung Syed, Penang.

He was talking to a 100 percent Malay crowd and he nasihat that Malays must respect, take care and be sensitive to not just the Malays, but also to the non-Malays too. He said for the Malays to be successful leaders kita jangan sakiti hati orang bukan Melayu and mesti memimpin bukan saja Melayu tapi jadi pemimpin semua orang. I told my dad that he will be the PM pasai dia tak kutuk China dan Hindu (Indians in Penang talk). My father just smiled – he had always thought that I was a little too liberal.

I am not involved in PR-BN politics but just like many of you Malaysians we belong to The Third Force (T3F). However, even if we are not involved, our lives will be affected by what they do.

What I propose is not based on party politics and I am not an Anwar-basher – just someone who says a thing as it is. Anwar has many talents but unfortunately getting differing groups of people to work together is not his forte; it will be an uphill battle for him.

He may try hard but he lacks the capacity. He may achieve some grounds as he did for March 8, but it may not last long enough to make a real difference and create a two-party system for Malaysia.

Until he does, he will not become the PM and will not lead a really solid opposition coalition. He needs to check his framework and know that until he works on his Group-to Group skills, he will fail. Having a great drive to be the PM is not enough to raise him to the top. He needs to speak straight - and not cater his words on fundamental issues to grab votes and support piecemeal by making people happy in separation.

He needs the conceptual ability to marry not just differing groups and people in his coalition but also the country – we, the T3F, too. He has been busy trying to crack BN’s strength (an external force) spending time in Sarawak instead of working hard making his ‘loose’ coalition ( an internal force) into a solid pakatan – a united front that cannot be broken easily.

Weak leaders try to win by weakening their enemies, great leaders win by strengthening their own people first.

He lacks a Group-to-Group attitude like powerful leaders in the past - Prophet Muhammad in Medina, Mao Tse Tung during the Long March and the pre-1949 revolution and Genghiz Khan who united the people with the analogy that an arrow in a bundle is unbreakable.

Personally, I would like to see Malaysia with a two-party system. So I want PR to work out. The problem is that Anwar may not have the capacity to lead it. Please understand, I am not saying he is of no good all together. He is the ‘Sun Yet Sen’ that roused the people up, and he is really good at it, but today PR needs a ‘Mao Tze Tung’ to connect all the groups - like during the Chinese revolution of 1949 - to make things happen - methodically and clinically.

The opposition needs a stronger team, not a weakened BN. He may have outlived his leadership ability (unless he changes and sees the need to focus on his Group-to-Group skills) and PR may need a new leader.

Let me repeat, weak leaders try to win by weakening their opponents, strong leaders win by first strengthening their own team.

As a T3F member, I see March 8 as one of the best things that have happened to the country. I have strong convictions that even BN members and supporters - if they search deep inside - will find that the loss of the five states and not getting a 2/3rds majority in parliament as perhaps the best thing that has happened to them. As Walt Disney said, ‘Sometimes a kick in the teeth is the best thing for you’.

DAP is forced to learn that it is not enough to talk but you must also do. That is good for all of us, even if DAP is a single-term government in Penang - the lesson learnt will be of great importance.

PAS may just have to work harder and look deeper in the Quran and it may find the answers therein. Doesn’t PAS ever wonder why the Prophet did the almost impossible and united the tribal Arabs? He united 12 tribes who were at war for centuries and left a legacy of followers who went on to conquer the world within 200 years.

The Prophet is a skilled Group-to-Group leader. A clear evidence is the Medina Charter. The Prophet did not seek to form the fashionable but shallow idea of an Islamic state or announce that he wants to implement hudud.

He managed to lead the 12 tribes even when Muslims were the minority - Group-to-Group skills at its best. To PAS, if you want to lead this country, I give you a little clue. The first part of the Medina Charter says that Muslims and non-Muslims is one ummah or community.

1. This is a document from Muhammad the Prophet (governing the relations) between the believers and Muslims of Quraysh and Yathrib, and those who followed them and joined them and laboured with them.

2. They are one community (ummah) to the exclusion of all men.

The Medina Charter article one and two.

Got it?

Look, I am one of the T3F members and I want the country to improve. A two-party system will be good but, to get there we need a stronger PR. To have a stronger PR we need great leadership.

So PR will need a new leader if Anwar is not up to the task. Unless Anwar gets serious and builds a real coalition, this will not happen. Anwar may even need to make way for a better leader who can lead in a Group-to Group way. Is he up to it? Putting the country above self?

Or does PR need a new leader?