This is the season of despair for Malaysia’s once proud Barisan Nasional — of uncertainty, indecision, broken promises and a credibility deficit.

Just listen to the once strong and commanding voices of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik. They now have the timbre of beaten men; of politicians who despite their rich experience are at a loss to point the way forward for their supporters and countrymen.

Just listen to Cabinet ministers and senior politicians in their private moments. They are in unfamiliar territory; not knowing how to regain the trust of their constituents; wondering why their announcements are greeted with cynicism; troubled that the arch enemy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is Mr Teflon — nothing sticks on him.

Dr Mahathir, Dr Lim, the ministers and politicians know that if the mood of despair does not lift, this could be the last time the BN governs Malaysia, the end of one of the world’s longest ruling regimes.

This is what the former prime minister said on his blog yesterday: “The BN is in a sorry state… I hate to say it but the Permatang Pauh victory by PKR probably sounded the death knell of all the BN parties and the BN.”

To be sure, the despair began long before the night of March 8 when news filtered through that the alliance of DAP-PKR-Pas had not only denied the BN its two-thirds majority in Parliament but also surrendered control of Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Perak.

For non-Malays, it started in 2005, when it became clear that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was reneging on his promise of being the leader of all Malaysians. He stood and watched as his party members flaunted their political muscle and questioned the status of Chinese and Indians. He was a bystander as Hindus and Christians faced challenges in practising their religions. He tolerated the unlawful behaviour of Umno warlords like the late Zakaria Deros in the name of political expediency.

All these omissions and actions only deepened the sense of despair about the country among Chinese and Indians, and hammered home the message that the interests of minorities will not be protected under the Umno-led BN.

For many Malays, the umbilical cord with Umno and the BN was cut 10 years ago, when Dr Mahathir dumped Anwar unceremoniously from government and when for the first time, many in the community wondered whether the New Economic Policy really benefited them. Along the way, they reached the conclusion that the politicians entrusted to look after their interest have grown fat and rich on government largesse. In the back of beyond, Umno is still strong. But in urban centres, many Malays no longer call Umno their party of choice.

Can Umno stop the rot? Can Umno galvanise a listless BN? Can Umno reconnect with the ground? Gerakan’s Dr Lim, a politician who has worked with the likes of Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Dr Ismail, Tun Hussein Onn, Dr Mahathir, did not think so.

He did not believe that any current or future Umno leader has the vision or the will to shake the ruling party out of its stupor and make the necessary reforms which Malaysians want done. In an interview with Off the Edge, he sounded defeated, fed-up with the arrogance and money culture in Umno.

Not once did he blame Abdullah directly but reading in between the lines, it is clear that he assigns much of the BN’s problems to the weak leadership of Umno. Does he have a silver bullet for the BN? Dr Lim offers a fountain of rhetoric but little else.

It seems even the man with all the answers is giving up. Dr Mahathir noted that some readers on his blog had asked him to do something about the country.

His response was short: he had done everything. He had openly criticised Abdullah; asked him to step down as prime minister and Umno president; accused him of corruption; resigned from Umno; spoken about corruption and the fate awaiting Malays and started a blog.

“Privately many said they support me and they want Abdullah to step down. But they are not prepared to say it openly. That was why I started my blog. About six million had visited my blog site and tens of thousands have commented and supported me.

“But most appear to be worried and would not give their names. They are usually anonymous. So the support is not effective.

“I cannot do everything all by myself. I need support. I cannot just go to Dato Seri Abdullah, catch him by the scruff of his neck and throw him out,”' he said.

Getting rid of Abdullah may not be enough to lift the cloud of despair hanging over the BN and Malaysia. A recent survey commissioned by a government agency showed that many Malaysians seemed dissatisfied in the manner the BN operates.

More than 60 per cent of Chinese and Indians polled wanted the BN to become one single multiracial political party. Surprisingly, 71 per cent of Malays, Indians and Chinese polled said that BN race-based affirmative action policy is obsolete and must be replaced with a merit-based system.

Taken individually, 63 per cent of Malays support this change in policy, 83 per cent Chinese and 85 per cent Indians and 63 per cent non-Muslim Bumiputeras.

These findings make nonsense of some of the assumptions Umno politicians have relied on even after Election 2008.