Malaysians are recovering their faith in BN as the government starts to deliver on electoral promises and other pledges, Najib Abdul Razak said today.

The prime minister said there were early indications of a positive response from the people to government initiatives to meet their needs and expectations.

"As we begin to deliver on electoral promises and on stated commitments, our credibility is strengthened in the eyes of the public," he said in his keynote address at the 6th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Phnom Penh.

"The final judgement of whether or not we have met the expectations of the people will only be known from the results of the next general election," he added.

The meeting was attended by the leaders of 317 Asian political parties in the government and opposition from 51 countries.

Najib stressed the need to deliver and be seen to deliver as he drew lessons from the BN experience of the last several years when it lost considerable support and strived to regain the people's trust.

In the 2008 general election, he told the assembly, BN for the first time in history lost five states to the opposition and its two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Public engaged in labs, forums

Najib said that his first order of business when taking over the helm of the country in April 2009 was to put in place the 'people first, performance now' commitment under the overarching 1Malaysia banner.

Since then, the BN government has launched 1Malaysia clinics to provide free medical assistance and services and 1Malaysia scholarships for excellent students regardless of race or religion, he added.

Najib said that various programmes to improve the living conditions of lower-income groups and eliminate poverty around the country were also introduced.

He said the government identified six National Key Results Areas to reduce crime, fight corruption, raise living standards of low-income households, improve rural basic infrastructure and enhance urban public transportation.

An Economic Transformation Programme was unveiled to establish a high income, sustainable and inclusive nation, and 12 National Key Economic Areas were identified, he added.

"The important thing to note here is that at practically every stage of preparing these economic initiatives which will have impact on their daily lives, members of the public were engaged in public labs and forums so as to enable us to truly gauge their expectations and deliver on their aspirations," he said.

Najib said that BN itself had undergone significant transformation and continued to re-invent itself to suit the changing times with the latest move involving the passing of amendments that allowed for direct admission into the 13-party coalition.

- Bernama