PUTRAJAYA, April 8 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has to work very hard to ensure Barisan Nasional (BN) win the next general election.Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said this, opined that the mentality of many people today had been influenced by the flaws in the government leadership before this, invoking a sentiment which was difficult to change.
He said change would take a long process, hence Najib must be firm in restoring Umno and BN's image.
"It's very difficult to change people's thinking, that is why the government led by Najib has to be firm in its stand in rebuilding BN's image, particularly Umno's image," he told reporters following BN's loss in the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections yesterday.
Earlier, Dr Mahathir had launched the book titled "Mencari Kebahagiaan" (Looking for Happiness) written by Datuk Hashim Abdul Wahab, at the Perdana Leadership Foundation building, here, today.
He said besides the lack of development, rampant corruption had only heightened people's dissatisfaction with the government.
"People are unhappy to see that after almost six years, there is not much development and we don't know who got the government contracts. Many of the small- and medium-scale industries cannot survive," he added.
On the claim that BN's loss in the two by-elections was due to non-Malay votes for the opposition, Dr Mahathir said this could not be the factor as Malays formed the majority of voters in both areas.
"If the Malays didn't vote for PKR in Bukit Selambau, PKR would not have won. The Indians are the minority there; they could not have won (without Malay votes). If you add the Indian votes to the Chinese votes, they (PKR) still could not win. The fact is many of the Malay voters gave their votes to PKR. It shows there are (many) Malays who are dissatisfied with the government," he said.
Dr Mahathir also refuted the claim that there was an agreement between him and Najib to include his son Datuk Mukhriz in the new cabinet line-up to be announced tomorrow.
He said this was mere speculation and baseless as he had never interfered in Mukhriz's political route.
"I have never lobbied for my son. I have never campaigned for him(Umno's election), and have never spoken for him. I leave him alone and when he lost (the Umno Youth elections), that's his business.
"If Najib wants to appoint him, that's Najib's business, not mine," he said.
tunku : najib has the biggest challenge of all the pm to date and IF he succeed then he'll be one of the greatest pm of malaysia. if he fails than umno and bn will fail too. by the way he's going now look like he is up to the challenge and trying his best to restore the public confidence in the government and this would be reflected by his new cabinet line up which will be announced at 3pm today. the nation is hoping for a "clean" cabinet. those ministers should not be having past history and scandals. let see what surprise najib is going to give us later today.hope it will be a good surprise for the nation.
as for mukhriz, though i support his entry into the cabinet, it is too early to appoint him as minister, he should be made deputy minister first.
Malaysian Ringgit Converter
1 comment:
Salam Tunku,
I believe this whole Mukhriz-KJ issue should be put to rest by not appointing either.
The new cabinet should be based on the principle on which BN was formed: multi-racial parties under one roof with Malays at the helm. PM, DPM and key cruicial Ministries need to go to Umno (like Home, Defence, Finance etc). As for the rest, their performance, loyalty, participation must be taken into account. If MCA and MIC performed dismally in the General Elections then it is only fair that their numbers be reduced and the lost posts given to the one's who've performed: Umno Sabah, PBB Sarawak, LDP, SPDP etc.
My opinion is that it will encourage the one's with reduced positions to sit back and find out what went wrong and correct themselves. Also, in impasse positions like MIC's Samy Vellu, Najib should play his role as BN Chairman to boot Samy out. He is obviously a liability to MIC and the BN.
The new cabinet must focus on the suppot entrusted to them. Priority mut be given to the States they rule. The voters too should be responsible for their decisions. If they voted Pakatan then they should accept who they voted for. No point blaming the Federal Government if their Pakatan controlled states are given less priority. It is their own doing. Enough of trying to woo the hard-core and hard-headed anti-establishment types. How long has BN tried to woo back Kelantan? Built a University and all but they still vote Pas. In fact, they will vote Pas more than ever for they know attempts and promises will be made to states lost. Enough of that.
Time for not just the government but also voters to be responsible for their actions.
Post a Comment