GE14 | A strong mandate for BN in the coming general election will be the key to unleash more good things for Malaysians and bring the country to greater heights, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
“What I’m asking for is not just a victory but also (the need for) a strong government so that we'll be able to deliver more for the people,” he told senior editors at his office in Putrajaya today as the 14th general election looms.
The BN chairperson expressed his determination to make Malaysia one of the top nations in the world with strong economic growth that would benefit the country's over 30 million population.
“Our target is nothing short of being one of the top nations in the world, nothing short of that. I want Malaysia to be a first-tier nation and I’m determined to get us there,” said Najib, who took office as the prime minister in 2009.
Najib, who is leading the BN charge into the polls billed as the 'mother of all elections', believes that a strong mandate from the rakyat for the BN would further strengthen the ringgit and boost Bursa Malaysia as well as foreign investment.
On the BN manifesto to be launched on Saturday, Najib said the main message would be to invite the people to be with the BN on the agenda to ‘Make Malaysia Great’.
“We've delivered and we stand by our track record of the past five years. And even before that, we've delivered. If you look at the hard facts, we've delivered. You cannot deny that fact,” he stressed.
Najib also said that during his administration, the country’s economy was being managed well despite the world’s economic challenges arising from the subprime mortgage in the United States and following the drop in world oil prices.
The prime minister said the ringgit, currently at RM3.86 to the US dollar, was strengthening based on market sentiments and fundamentals and it was not something artificial as was the case during the administration of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
As such, he said, BN wanted to focus on the future agenda of the country to ensure that Malaysia remained ahead of the other countries which were also striving to move forward.
“That’s why I want this (strong) mandate, a fresh mandate from the people," he said when referring to the form of election victory needed to intensify Malaysia’s performance under the BN umbrella.
Dr M 'extreme'
Touching on the attacks by the opposition, including from Mahathir, in the run up to the general election, Najib said the political campaigning style of the former prime minister was extreme.
“Mahathir’s style is to go to the extreme. What did he not say about Anwar Ibrahim then? Also about Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
"Now he is doing the same to me, same modus operandi.
“To me, he’s teaching the wrong values in society," he said, adding that levelling criticisms was all right, but it was unethical to slander someone.
Najib noted that most attacks against him by Mahathir were wildly exaggerated, including on issues such as 1MDB.
Najib said Anwar who is now together with Mahathir in opposition, in his political campaigning before also had hurled all kinds of allegations against Mahathir and his children.
Social media playing a role
The prime minister also admitted the role and influence of social media on voters in this election saying opinions expressed could sway voters.
According to him, some of the opinions expressed on social media were not necessarily the opinion of the majority and at times only those of the minority, while there were also some that were right and others that were wrong.
Najib added the opposition was expected to continue to 'poison' the minds of the people by claiming that the BN would resort to cheating to win the election this time.
He said the election system remained the same and in fact was more transparent than before.
“There's no way for us to cheat. At polling centres, the opposition’s polling agents are also there. If there are 40,000 Bangladeshi voters, there is no way they will miss that,” he said, referring to the fake news on phantom voters that was spread widely during GE13.
According to him, the opposition deliberately raised the 'fake news' to blame BN.
On BN candidates, Najib admitted that it was not an easy task to pick suitable candidates because one who was popular in the party might not be popular with voters and vice-versa.
Asked about the people’s sentiments during his visits all across the country lately, Najib said he found their mood to be much better than during the last general election.
“I don’t detect the mood to change the government. I feel the mood is better than the last election," he said, adding that there would definitely be no 'Malay tsunami'.
Najib, however, did not answer when asked about the date of dissolution of Parliament.
Asked about BN’s chances of wresting back states it lost to the opposition, he said the prospects were there especially if the candidates fielded were better choices than those of the opposition.
'PAS neither enemy nor friend'
“It's still going to be a challenge to win back Selangor but it's not impossible. We must create a 'wow' factor and find somebody who can lead Selangor,” he said, noting that BN would identify a suitable candidate for this purpose.
Najib added that Selangor and Penang (states under opposition rule) clearly failed to resolve the people’s problems like the water crisis in Selangor recently.
As for Penang, he said the state was worse off than it was under the administration of former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon.
On PAS, Najib said: “PAS is neither an enemy nor a friend. But there are areas where we can compete and areas that we will cooperate.
“Depends on the situation. (But) We saw that in the matter of the Anti-Fake News Bill, they supported (BN). Generally, especially in matters concerning Islam we are together but in certain other areas...there are differences (between PAS and BN),” he said.
Najib concluded the session saying that he hoped that the people appreciate all the efforts made by the government in their interest.
- Bernama
