Prime Minister Najib Razak never expressed confidence that BN would recapture Penang from Pakatan Rakyat in the next general election, said Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon.

najib penang visit najib pc Clarifying Najib’s statement during a one-day visit to Penang yesterday, Koh clarified that the PM would not express such confidence lightly.

“The PM was very careful in his remarks. He said he visited five areas, (and) people gave him (a) warm welcome. If the warm welcome can translate into votes in the election, then BN can win back a few seats.

“But he never mentioned recapturing the state because this still need further assessment. Maybe Bernama misreported (the prime minister,” Koh told reporters at a book launch in Kuala Lumpur earlier today.

Koh, when asked about the PM remarks yesterday, had initially blamed Malaysiakini for misquoting the PM.

It was pointed to him, however, that it was official news agency Bernama that had quoted Najib.

najib trip to penang 020411 najib and nyanasegaran Bernama reported Najib as saying there were signs of a wind of change in Penang, and that the BN was confident of recapturing the state in the next general elections.

Najib said that during his visit to the state yesterday, many quarters had expressed their disappointment with the Pakatan-led state government and wanted a change.

Koh said perhaps the Bernama journalist was overenthusiastic or too excited.

Koh said he was accompanying Najib during the visit when he received an SMS alert on the matter from another newspaper. Upon showing it to Najib, the latter denied saying it.

Asked if Gerakan had any plan to recapture Penang, the former Penang chief minister said the party would not announce its plan just because of Najib’s one-day visit to Penang.

“It's too early to discuss recapturing Penang,” said Koh.

“If we were to talk about recapturing Penang now, while we still haven't won back any seat, it may look too arrogant,” he added.”