Not aloof enough.

YOU have heard it right. The prime minister has told the media that he is not going to resign - a remark that might have come too soon into the opposition protest.

Those who have closely watched the opposition challenges in the past would have thought such vows are best kept for the climax, when the threat to the incumbent is most pronounced and most options seem to have run out. In the initial phase, traditionally, a prime minister is expected to stay aloof from whatever antics his opponents on the charge resort to on the street and stage, feigning that the protesters didn't exist. The period is where the government fights through its various lieutenants, led often by the information minister.

The momentum usually takes time and there is a lot of mudslinging before...