The Penang Barisan Nasional is riding on the mood of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s recent call for global moderation, using it as a theme to woo the rakyat to the coalition’s state Chinese New Year open house on Tuesday.

NONE State BN working committee chairperson Dr Teng Hock Nam launched ‘Najib for Moderates’ as their CNY theme this year, saying the idea came following the success of the recent forum in Kuala Lumpur.

Teng, who is state Gerakan chief, said the coalition applauded Najib’s initiatives and his bold proposal for moderation at the 65th United Nations meeting in New York in 2010.

“We are using this theme to create awareness that moderation is very important to Malaysians, no matter what ethnic group you belong to,” he told a press conference in George Town.

“We want to remind all Malaysians to be moderate and accept one another as this is the way forward for global peace,” he added.

The conference was a culmination of Najib’s call for a global movement of moderates , made before the UN General Assembly.

NONE During the forum recently, Najib unveiled the formation of an institute of Wasatiyyah (Moderation) under the Prime Minister’s Office to pursue moderation in “democracy, rule of law, education, human dignity and social justice”.

Teng, who is a former Penang executive councillor, said that the call for moderation also applies to those “high and mighty” politicians and leaders who are currently helming the government.

“Any action, statement, utterances that are extreme and not moderate will jeopardise the harmonious situation of the state and country,” he added.

BN, especially the MCA, has been hounding Pakatan Rakyat about PAS’ plan to implement hudud law if the coalition comes to power.

DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh, however, continues to oppose this plan by his party’s ally.

The state BN’s Chinese New Year celebration will start at 4pm at Tanjung Marina, Weld Quay on Tuesday, where Najib is expected to arrive at 5pm to meet about 20,000 well-wishers.