The Umno disciplinary committee must investigate thoroughly allegations by several Kubang Pasu Umno members that money was used to ensure former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not elected as a delegate to the Umno general assembly.

Needless to say that if Umno does not come up with a finding that is credible in the eyes of the public, then it has a lot of explaining to do.

Mahathir has a lot of ground support. We all know that. During the recent wedding of the son of the parliamentary speaker Ramli Ngah, Mahathir was given a standing ovation as soon as he walked into the packed hall. In contrast, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was given a lukewarm applause when he came in earlier.

Abdullah and Umno have become Mahathir-phobic. Some may argue that the fact that Mahathir was given a standing ovation, and Abdullah was not, at the wedding ceremony is by no means a reflection of popularity, but it has certainly affected Umno and Abdullah.

To those who are Mahathir-phobic, keeping him away from the general assembly will be a good idea - him stealing the thunder will be disastrous for the present leadership.

So whether Umno had gone out of the way to ensure that Mahathir loses in the Kubang Pasu election remains a question in the minds of the people.

All it takes is for one person to show proof that he was offered money to ensure that Mahathir loses in the election. That will cause irreversible damage to the present Umno leadership.

Mahathir was member of parliament for Kubang Pasu for many terms. A majority of Kubang Pasu constituents still respect him as a leader. For him to be defeated in the recent divisional election is mind-boggling, After all, he wasn't seeking a position. He was only seeking to be a delegate to the general assembly.

It was Abdullah, who upon taking office in 2003, promised to combat corruption and to make his administration the most transparent one in the country's history. If Umno, under his stewardship has resorted to money politics, then Abdullah loses all credibility. A leader who denounces corruption in his very first policy speech and promises to combat it at all costs, but only to resort to it later, is not desired. That will be hypocrisy of the highest degree.

As a fee-paying member of Umno, I expect the party to take just two weeks to complete investigations into the report submitted to Brig Jeneral (Rtd) Husainay Hashim by the five members of Umno Kubang Pasu.

We will be waiting.