IT was a bad move by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to quit Umno and urge other party members to follow suit in the hope that this would lead to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stepping down from the leadership of the party and the government.

Umno members should remember it was Dr Mahathir who used to remind them to stay in the party. But now, the man himself has quit Umno. Talk about Melayu mudah lupa (Malays are forgetful).

If Dr Mahathir maintains that Abdullah is practising cronyism, then he should prove it. The country needs to know the whole truth.

Abdullah continuing to hold the job for another term despite the Barisan Nasional's setbacks in the general election should not be an issue at all. The election outcome was not a 100 per cent win, but it could have been worse.

Let's not forget to look at it from another angle: Umno and its coalition partners were re-elected for the 12th time to run the country. Wasn't that good enough?