BN will adopt a new approach in the coming Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election by having all component parties moving as a team, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin, who is BN deputy chairman, said the coalition, which represents all ethnic groups, would showcase a 1Malaysia solidarity and should stand on the  same platform and speak with the same voice.

"For instance, we don't want to see a situation where MCA is only with the Chinese, Umno with the Malays and MIC with the Indians, which sometimes gives rise to assumptions that even though BN is a national coalition, its component parties are only attending to the interests of their respective races.

"So, to further improve our position, the BN will adopt the format in any ceramah or meetings with the people," he told Malaysian journalists here.

He is here to attend the 184th session of the Unesco executive board which started at the Unesco headquarters here today.

Muhyiddin said leaders of BN component parties were constantly reminded on the need to safeguard unity and maintain cooperation to ensure the coalition remained strong.

On the BN candidate for the by-election on April 25, Muhyiddin said he hoped that members of BN component parties would support and help whoever chosen to be the BN candidate.

The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent member of parliament Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad of PKR on March 25.

In the March 2008 general election, Zainal Abidin defeated BN's G Palanivel, who represented the constituency from 1990.

"The principle we have established in the BN is that we accept any candidate chosen by the leadership. Candidate is important, but so is the party because we are talking about the country's future. We should give priority to the BN," he said.

‘Don’t take things for granted’

He said party members should also work hard and not take things for granted because each by-election had its own challenges.

Muhyiddin said the spontaneous response shown by the people when they welcomed Prime Minister Najib Razak recently was a very encouraging development.

"This could be a window into the current scenario in the country in which the people are becoming more comfortable with the BN and its leaders," he said.

It was clear, he said, that the situation now was different from the scenario in 2008 as the people appreciated the political and economic initiatives taken by Najib.

"Within the past two years, a lot of things have taken place, changes which the people want to see; and I believe the voters can now judge what the government can do to the people," he said.

- Bernama