COMMENT And so the prime minister has enlisted his second-in-command and the entire cabinet in his war against Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But the former premier is not training his cannons on the rest. He only has Najib Abdul Razak in his crosshairs. He has made no calls for the resignation of other ministers in the current administration. He only wants the prime minister's head to roll.

So it was strange that Najib should declare that "we will not surrender" in what was an obvious response to Mahathir's unrelenting bombardment.

Najib - who remarked that he does not feel "lonely" in a jab at Mahathir who bemoaned he was "alone" in his quest - has transformed his personal battle into a collective one. Transformation is after all his main agenda.

He also mentioned the "honourable" Muhyiddin Yassin and put his deputy on the spot...