Rational Thinking Vital For BN Members To Get Two-thirds In General Election - Dr Mahathir

SURAKARTA (Indonesia), Sept 4 (Bernama) -- Tun Dr Mahatir Mohamad said the Barisan Nasional (BN) was capable of getting a two-thirds majority in the Malaysia's upcoming 13th general election on the condition that all its members must think rationally and accept and support whoever is chosen by the party as candidates.
At the same time, the former Malaysian Prime Minister also reminded BN members not to sabotage the chosen candidates during campaigning as such an act would only lead the party to lose in the election.
"If Umno and BN members are rational, they will get two-thirds. If they want to play around... hating this or that candidate, they could even lose," he told the Malaysian press here.
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Social and Humanities on Malay Leadership and Empowerment from Universiti Sebelas Maret Indonesia (UNS-Solo) here.
Dr Mahathir said the problem in BN was that there were certain quarters who would definitely hate the candidates chosen by the party, claiming that they deserved better.
"I don't think (Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak) can choose a candidate who is likeable by all members in a certain division. There is a habit among Umno members where if they don't like the candidate, they will close down the operation rooms or sabotage the campaign.
"They obviously are not thinking about the importance of the victory for the party to form a good government. They just think about the interest of certain individuals. They are immature," he said.
The former prime minister said Umno and BN members should always remember that the general election was a process to choose a party supported by the majority of people to form a government.
"We have to remember that Umno, MCA, MIC and even Gerakan, will not win without the support from party or non-party members alike.
"If a non-party member is the winnable candidate for BN, then why can't the component parties support him? We should support the winnable candidate because at the end of the day, we want to ensure victory for BN," he said.
When asked whether BN could win if the general election were to be held in the near future, Dr Mahathir said he was confident that BN could win, but could not tell whether it was going to be a two-thirds victory.
"I think we can win, but the problem is that we want to get a strong majority to form a strong and stable government," he said

tunku : let us forget about personal and think about party survival. if everyone can put aside their differences, i am sure BN will win big this time.everyone should put party's interest first before theirs. let us give full support to any candidates that are chosen by the PM.what is important now is for BN to win 2/3.