Pairin: Snap election this year possible

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Joseph Pairin Kitingan has hinted the possibility of an early general election although Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak did not specifically allude to it in his message during a meeting with Sabah BN leaders in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

"I think the temperature is very high for people to anticipate it (a possible snap election)," he told reporters after the meeting with Najib.

Pairin ( left ), who is Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, said this when asked to comment on the prime minister's message to state BN leaders.

Asked whether this visit would probably be the last for Najib before the general election, he said: "Well, the prime minister posed this question to himself...he said it may or may not be...next year is still possible and end of this year is still possible."

However, Pairin made it clear that under the purview of the law it was the prerogative of prime minister to call an election.

He said apart from touching on the importance of winnable candidates to be fielded in the coming general election, the Prime Minister also thanked Sabahans for not participating in illegal street demonstrations planned by a trouble-maker group on July 9.

This was because the people had enough avenues to air their grouses including calling for improvements to the election system, he said.

Pairin said the prime minister had also told the state leaders that he would support the state BN to develop Sabah.

"We are encouraged by the presence of the Prime Minister here today and we hope the people of Sabah will continue to support Barisan Nasional," he said.

Meanwhile, United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) president Bernard Dompok ( right ) said Najib had also asked state BN leaders to work hard to resolve the people's problems.

"I can see the prime minister's seriousness in making sure that the 1Malaysia concept "People First, Performance Now" is successful. We will work together to deliver the goods," he said.

Later yesterday, Najib said the BN has always left to the people to decide its fate each time it faces the opposition in elections.

The prime minister said the BN believed that the people would make a wise choice through the election process and not through illegal street demonstrations like those planned for July 9.

'We don't resort to illegal demos'

"When the time comes (for a general election), the BN is prepared to take on the opposition and leave its fate in the hands of the people... not resort to street demonstrations," he told a crowd of some 10,000 people who turned up for a 1Malaysia dinner at Padang Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Najib said the BN did not want to win elections through cheating but instead was ready to face "whatever the opposition could throw at it" in facing an election.

He said if elections in the country were not clean, it would have been impossible for the coalition to lose several states and two-thirds majority in Parliament in the last general election.

Najib said he was confident that the people of Sabah, who he described as shining examples of the 1Malaysia concept, would object to illegal street demonstrations hatched by people with vested interests.

He said the racial harmony enjoyed by the people, particularly in Sabah should not be taken for granted as illegal street demonstrations like the ones planned by the trouble-maker group could put paid to the existing harmony in  "blink of the eye".

Najib said he was also confident that Sabah would remain in the hands of the BN following the next general election.

This was because the BN had brought tremendous development for the people of Sabah, he said.

On the 1Malaysia concept, the prime minister stressed the need to have policies and systems that were fair under the principle of inclusiveness and social justice for all Malaysians.

- Bernama  

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