Muhyiddin: Najib Will Rebuild Public Confidence Towards BN Government

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who has been nominated by most UMNO divisions to run for the deputy presidency in the upcoming party elections, will most likely become the country's next deputy prime minister if elected.
During an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily, Muhyiddin talked about the rapidly changing political developments since the last general elections, the future directions of BN and its component parties, as well as changes that have taken place within BN.
He also talked about what he thought of the country's incoming premier.
Muhyiddin said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would be introducing some policy changes in a bid to rebuild public confidence towards the BN government after the latter takes over as the country's sixth prime minister. He said Najib had prepared to carry out necessary adjustments to existing policies and how they should be implemented.
Muhyiddin, who is also UMNO's vice president, admitted that Malaysians are generally confused about their future as well as that of the country.
"The new prime minister Datuk Seri Najib will very clearly lead a future direction for the country." On the current political turmoil, Muhyiddin said reassuringly, "I believe Najib has in mind how he is going to run the country and rebuild the confidence of the rakyat over the next four years."
A new beginning
Muhyiddin said Najib has explored many issues such as living standards of the people, performance of the national economy, etc. He said Najib would strive to create a people-friendly government that will ensure that everyone is treated fairly.
"We have been swept into too much commotion over the last four years. And we will review all the existing policies over the next four years, to see whether any of them needs to be changed." He hoped everyone would be able to see clear changes after March, as many party leaders have felt that BN indeed needs to change from inside out lest it will be eliminated by the changhing times. He admitted that if no changes were to be introduced now, the days ahead would be even tougher.
On how to implement the changes, Muhyiddin said the government would give different issues different levels of priority, and carry out the changes step by step. These issues include economy, society, religion, human rights and freedom of speech, among others.
However, he said the incumbent government strives to improve the public deliverance system, which he believes will be continued by the incoming administration.
Muhyiddin stressed that the future leader (Najib) must have a very high level of participation and personally oversee the changes so that Malaysians will feel that the country is being led by a highly alert leader. "We mustn't let the rakyat feel lost, or 'who's taking the steer?' They must know that a prime minister is firmly in charge, and this is very important. "We mustn't put things aside, hoping that they will get solved on their own after some time. "I don't think this is a good way of doing things. We must face and handle any problem we have."
Mutual trust waning
Although the country has been independent for over half a century, racial friction is still very much evident every now and then.
Muhyiddin admitted that the erstwhile close inter-racial relationship is no longer in existence today.
He said mutual trust is very important, and one of the reasons for disunity is the lack of such a trust.
He said the issue of polarisation first began in schools, and that had been caused by the racist remarks of some irresponsible people. "Be it Malays, Chinese or Indians, there're always people issuing racist remarks in schoools for their own personal gains, without caring about other people's feelings. This is something very bad."
Leaders are becoming arrogant
Many people feel that BN has become excessively arrogant after taking charge of the country for half a century, which Muhyiddin has not denied.
"I'm not arrogant. Neither is UMNO. But some UMNO members fight only for their own good, and this has made many people feel that UMNO is arrogant and that the party doesn't listen to the people anymore." "As such, BN must launch a large scale re-education campaign to instill proper political philosphies into its members. We have no other choice, unless we want to vanish altogether."
He also emphasised that BN's component parties must discuss all the problems in between them more frequently, and look for the objectives for change and some common understanding.
"We must be aware that BN is a team, and we are serving all Malaysians, not a specific group of people. "Although we have held post-mortem discussions after the general elections, I feel we can do more frequently." "Discussing is not a problem, but we must never go against the principles of a harmonious multiracial society. Mutual understanding among people of different races is of utmost importance."
Unpolular leader must go
After the general elections last March, there have been calls asking prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down.
Among the most vocal in the ruling camp is Muhyiddin Yassin.
He explained that when a leader no longer receives the support of the people, he must step down so that public confidence could be restored.
"Over the past four years, we were plunged into too many political issues. I requested the prime minister to step down after the general elections, and fortunately my views have been accepted.
"Hopefully we can see some real changes after March."
He insisted that the handover of power is not only important to UMNO, but also to the country.
Nevertheless, he said he had to thank the party president cum prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for what he had done to the country and party, adding that there would be an agenda to "specially thank the president cum PM" in the upcoming UMNO general assembly.
Change of government in Perak not a conspiracy
The change of state government in Perak has drawn the wrath of many opposition supporters, who think that BN should not take over Perak this way.
Muhyiddin felt that while public emotions were very important, more importantly Malaysians must know how BN government would bring about the reforms.
He denied what happened in Perak had been plotted by BN, accusing instead that the opposition, in particular PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the person initiating all those crossovers.
He also refuted the rumour that Bota state assemblyman Datuk Nasaruddin's crossover to Pakatan and then return to UMNO, had been pre-arranged by BN.
"Nasaruddin hopped over because of personal problems, no plotted by BN. Coincidentally, some Pakatan state assemblymen quit and supported BN, and those were all not 'designed' by BN."
He emphasised that the most important thing now is that the people in Perak can settle down peacefully, for they don't want to have another political turmoil.
Muhyiddin believed that Pakatan had won a few more parliamentary and state seats because the voters wanted to give BN a lesson. "I'm not saying the voters have made the wrong decision. They have their own reasons. Perhaps they feel BN has not done enough and the opposition might do better. Anyway, it is now proven that this is wrong."
He said Pakatan is a very fragile and unstable team without strong political convictions. "They can't work together. Karpal Singh was condemning Anwar. They claim they are 'Pakatan Rakyat,' but I haven't seen a true alliance. They contest under individual logos instead of under a common banner. "BN is different. We are contesting under only the BN banner."

tunku : this is the man that should be the next umno deputy president not ali rustam or muhammad taib. we need people like muhyiddin to team up with the president to rebuild the people confidence in umno and bn. i believe too that najib will come up with new policies and speedy implementation is very vital. najib too must be aware of who his advisers are as with the wrong advice he will have the same faith like what pak lah had.najib has something up his sleeves and just waiting after march to start the ball rolling.