Umno supreme council member and Temerloh MP Saifuddin Abdullah has called on his colleagues in the BN ruling coalition to stop labelling opposition supporters as “ungrateful”.

NONE Saifuddin - also the deputy higher education minister and one of the more outspoken members in the Najib administration - said BN should instead respect the rights of the voters.

“With all due respect, I ask my friends in the BN not to blame or accuse those who didn’t vote for the coalition as being ungrateful to the BN government.

“In a democracy, we should respect the right of voters to choose whatever party they like. We also need to accept whatever their decision with an open heart although the results may not always favour us,” said Saifuddin in a statement.

‘Do politics the different way’

While commending his party for doing the “best it could to shore up support in the recently-concluded Sarawak elections and past by-elections, Saifuddin said that it may be time to try a different approach.

“Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself has introduced a new approach in capturing the hearts of the people. I am optimistic that if the BN is consistent with our efforts now, BN will regain the trust of all races,” said Saifuddin.

However, he said that with the continued blaming of opposition supporters and intimidation tactics, it may well backfire on BN.

“How are we going to face (the voters) at the next elections if we choose to keep on blaming them? What if the tables are turned and they lambast us?

“What if they only vote for the opposition as a sign of protest now, but because of our negative ways, they continue to support them?” he asked.

In last Saturday’s polls, a sizeable swing of voters against the ruling BN led to the opposition doubling its number of seats from eight to 16.