There is a look of uncertainty surrounding Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) these days. His 9th Malaysian Plan (9MP) has not taken off, with many projects still in the planning stage despite a slew of announcements since March.

His son-in-law and Umno Youth deputy president Khairy Jamaluddin led a demonstration objecting strongly to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Kuala Lumpur recently.

This offered the twisted logic that, "From the people of Malaysia, we do not welcome Rice here. You may be invited by the government, but we do not welcome Rice here".

Pak Lah had to publicly repudiate Khairy's call for a boycott of British and US goods. Is governing Malaysia reduced to renouncing announcements by his only son-in law?