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Filling the vacancy would mean nothing while a whole bunch of incompetent politicians continues to waste time holding Cabinet positions, stealing precious opportunities from able hands to really do some good for the public interest.

It's time for Samak to rethink his position after evaluating his performance and see whether there was any achievement during the first 100 days in office. Various public opinion polls have assessed already that all Cabinet members failed miserably.

The most important question Samak should ask himself is: will he continue to serve as a nominee of Thaksin Shinawatra, bear more ridicule and contempt as party figurehead, or make up his mind to be an independent national leader with a real sense of mission and do whatever he can to leave a worthy legacy?

Samak should have realised by now that he is really nothing in the People Power Party. Most, if not all members make sure that he sees his status as a figurehead, a stand-in guy for the real boss, who can be inside and outside the party, according to circumstances.

He should know that he cannot command genuine respect from party members. The hard-core ones look down upon him, give him stern lectures on how to behave and conduct international protocol, not to mention the laughs and jeers behind his back.

He did not attend the party meeting to pick a nominee for the House Speaker position, knowing full well that his advice and comments would be ignored as in previous times, publicly or in conference rooms.

Now he must get the real picture, that there's not much time left to fill orders until the proposed constitutional amendment is completed by the House. Nobody can tell when it will be as there remain formidable obstacles and possible flashpoints for violent conflict.

Granted that his party leadership is meaningless, Samak should shrug it off and pay more attention to the national leadership, where he is still the real boss, with the power to fire Cabinet members, dissolve the House or take whatever action permitted by the power vested in his position.

He knows that the performance of many Cabinet members is far below standard. They too are nominees of their patrons. Therefore, their arrogance and insolence toward him were totally unjustified. If he still has fire left in his beer belly, Samak can give some lessons about doing something good for the country.

How? Samak can carry out a total reshuffle of the Cabinet by weeding out the incompetents and the nuisances, those acting as lightning rods, or clowns engaged in combative arguments with critics just to display their foolishness.

He can then select new Cabinet members with clean hands, public recognition and other respectable qualifications, urging them to join him to guide the country out of the present political and economic quagmire.

Of course, he must convince those people that he has changed completely from being a hotheaded, foul-mouthed and moody politician to becoming a national leader with civility and devotion to the country. This sounds like a very tall order, if not next to impossible.

This is not an attempt to teach an old dog new tricks, as the saying goes. It is a warning for Samak to come to his senses, that it's time for him to undo the previous harm and do some good for the country. To hell with the party members, MPs and the no-good bunch!

To ensure success, there must be reasonable sharing of power and responsibility. Let Samak be prime minister and enjoy his place in the sun. Other competent Cabinet members can get down to the real hard work. This is not easy. But there are chances to prevent the almost directionless craft of state from heading towards more uncertainty and a possible calamitous end.

Samak should tell the party members and hotshots that he had tried to please and satisfy them, but to no avail. Now it is time for him to do what he wants for the public good. If they holler, he can go on air and tell the world they do not want good people to do things in the public interest.

How does this sound? To go this far, Samak would need strong backbone and resolve. His style of bullying and foul mood swings can be a deterrent to some extent. Just make sure that he does not back down when the wild bunch wants to call his bluff.

Is this wishful thinking? Of course, but we cannot be sure until Samak says that he does not have the courage to do it, should we? For some people, trying to become a statesman is better than staying put with no ambition, just like an old fart with too much hot air.