Umno Executive Secretary Abdul Rauf Yusoh has revealed that the party will be using a secure card scanner system to determine voter eligibility during internal elections later this year.

It is thought that up to 150,000 members will play their part in deciding whether to award a further mandate to Umno President Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

At the last party election, in 2009, only 2,500 delegates were able to vote for office bearers, with even stricter conditions imposed on election candidates before they were permitted to stand.

But like Malaysia, Umno under Najib has seen a raft of reforms implanted in order to provide more transparency and further the democratic processes of party governance.

The reforms, particularly on issues such as voter security may be seen as a slap in the face of parties like DAP where internal election processes have faced public and embarrassing scrutiny after the CEC election fiasco last December.

That Umno is promising more transparency in its party elections than the supposedly 'Democratic' Action Party is a strong sign that the reforms led by Najib are making a positive impact.

"The election will be more complex and challenging because it is in line with the reforms which we decided upon three years ago," he said earlier this month.

To that end, Abdul Rauf said that the party would go on a road show in which it could explain the benefits of the new system to its members.

"This is the first time that the system will include the divisional and branch level following the amendment to the Umno constitution on the party election process," he said.

"The system is to ensure that members who are eligible can attend the meetings to elect the grassroots committee and supreme council members."

Abdul Rauf's announcement comes on the back of a fresh boost of support for Najib from Kedah Umno where a solid endorsement was given for the mooted 'no-contest' proposal of the party's top two spots.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also joined in, lending his influence to the same no-contest proposal.

Even if the proposal gains no ground, that so many Umno members and leaders are happy with the leadership provided by Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin suggests a good future for the pair and ultimately Malaysia.

"We want Najib and Muhyiddin to soldier on as the Umno president and deputy president respectively without any contest. This will allow them to proceed with the party's transformation agenda," explained Kedah State Umno Liaison Committee Chairman Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah.

"Kedah Umno also believes preparations for the next general election should start now and the no-contest move will allow our president and deputy to come out with better strategies for the party's future."

It is widely understood within Pakatan Rakyat and outside of the Opposition pact that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has long felt more comfortable with street protest than with ordinary party politics and leadership. For over a decade, he has been a potent symbol of the DAP's and PAS' allegations, regardless of their veracity, and as a reward, they have even allowed him to be the Opposition leader for very close to five years now.

Yet his complete failure to accomplish very much in uniting the Opposition, and his obvious weaknesses of style and leadership, may very well cost him even that.

It is now being widely reported that permanent MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has been in constant contact with DAP and PAS leadership, as well as certain alleged Borneo MPs, to determine whether he has the votes needed to become Prime Minister. Even as the reports of high-level contacts with PAS and DAP – with whom Ku Li was allied after the Umno Team A/Team B battle in 1987 – continue, it is also reported that Pakatan have not yet committed to the potential Umno renegade's project.

It is not hard to decode what this means: Anwar refuses to contemplate any scenario in which he would not be Prime Minister, and so PKR will not commit to this project.

The Ku Li story has been reported as a threat to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, yet it is much more immediately a threat to Anwar and his standing in Pakatan, and a reminder that his infatuation with street protests rather than leadership has left him entirely expendable.

It is also a reminder that if Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang and Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang could mercilessly abandon their principles to embrace Anwar after two decades of vilifying him, they are certainly capable of dropping him like so much rotten fruit at the first opportunity.

It is now clearly time for Anwar to actually be what he claims he is: a real Opposition leader, not just a YB with a penchant for street rallies. He must not only convince his alliance that they cannot win without him (despite the fact that it is not clear they can win with him), he must also convince them that abandoning him would ruin any chance they have at Putrajaya.

He must strive to be the statesman he would have everyone believe. His party must end its post-election antics and instead turn to responsible governance, outlining plans for redelineation, electoral reform, economic reform and the fight against corruption beyond a broad hatred of Umno. A real shadow cabinet would be a good idea, as well.

This sort of statesmanship and competence have not been immediately apparent in Anwar for some time, and there is every reason to doubt they exist. Yet for Anwar's sake, he must try to find those lost arts, and soon.

An Anwar seen as a competent and responsible statesman would be a weapon too valuable for Pakatan to put aside. An Anwar who lives for the next mass protest is a useful clown who can be abandoned at a whim.

It is up to Anwar to decide which he is.