KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak last night urged Malaysians to have faith in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government to bring them a better future and take the country to greater heights.
Although Malaysia had achieved significant economic growth and the people were reaping the benefits of the government’s transformation agenda over the past four years, he said the best had yet to come.
“This is a time for us to put our faith in the government with a solid track record, a very clear plan for the future and one that has been able to deliver,” he said in the ‘Conversation with the PM’ programme aired over TV3.
He said the people should not gamble away their future by experimenting with an opposition comprising parties with markedly different agendas.
“They don’t have a common platform, they have … very dramatic opposite ideologies from one party to another,” he said, adding that the opposition pact of DAP, PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) was not even registered as a political entity.
Najib said they were even at loggerheads as to who should be the leader if they were to form the government.
However, the prime minister expressed confidence that the people were behind the government as the country prepared to hold the much-awaited 13th general election.
Based on assessment, he said, the people were with the government and felt more secure with the BN at the helm.
Najib said he was heartened by the reception he received on his tour of the country, with huge crowds turning up to greet him at various events.
The prime minister said the future of Malaysia and its people was always on his mind as he put his heart and soul into carrying out his duties.
“This is because I believe that we can do so much for Malaysia; we can bring Malaysia to greater heights,” he said, describing Malaysia’s potential as “simply enormous”.
On when he would call the next general election, Najib said he first wanted to show to the people what had actually been achieved through the various initiatives under the country’s transformation agenda.
Noting that real changes were taking place since he took office in 2009, he said the government would need more time to ensure that the people felt the positive outcome of the transformation agenda. “Because, when we plan things, it does take time (to show results), but I’m pleased that the outcome is positive,” he said.
Queried on the opposition pact’s election manifesto, Najib said the promises it contained would be impossible to deliver.
“The question is funding … that they have not stated. Based on what they have done, many of the promises contained in the (election) manifesto of 2008 have remained just empty promises,” he said.
“The main thing is funding. Nothing is free in this world. Someone must pick up the tab for those things to be given away free or at reduced cost,” he explained.
On the opposition’s pledge to lower car prices, Najib said the government had taken a step-by-step approach in the matter.
“Basically, Malaysians can look forward to cheaper cars but, at the same time, (it will) not destruct the second-hand car market,” he said.
The government’s plan would also give time for local carmaker Proton to become more competitive, he said, adding that it would be a win-win situation and the best way forward for all those involved. — Bernama