KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday reminded the people to choose a government that is trustworthy and responsible in the upcoming 13th general election.
He said they should also choose a government capable of fulfilling all its promises, besides ensuring their right to security, peace and stability for the country to continue progressing and developing.
“We need to choose a party which we are confident will be able to protect our rights, our sovereignty, economy, social well-being and unity.
“Don’t choose wrongly, but choose the good, the smart and the godly (candidates),” he said at the 1Malaysia Front Gathering, here. Muhyiddin said Malaysia was now on the right track, where its direction had been best drawn up by the Barisan Nasional (BN) top leadership for the country to be transformed into a developed nation by 2020.
Muhyiddin, who is also Federal Territory BN chairman, said BN’s good performance was proven although certain quarters were trying to influence voters to think that BN was too old or outdated, so the current government had to be changed.
“Party leaders come and go but the party and the government is never old. In fact, the older it is, the more energetic and experienced it becomes.”
Therefore, Muhyiddin said, there was no need to change the government except in states ruled by the opposition, namely Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan.
On the intrusion by southern Philippine militants in Lahad Datu and Semporna, he said the incident was a lesson for all Malaysians.
Muhyiddin said the people took security for granted while in a peaceful and seemingly safe situation, there could be enemies from outside trying to destroy this country.
“The foreign enemies see Malaysia as such a brilliant gem, hence they have feelings of envy and wanting to occupy or do something bad to our country.
“Fortunately, we have our security frontliners, our warriors who are willing to die to defend this country. That is why we must value peace and security,” he added.
Meanwhile, undergraduate Siti Nurhanisah Mohd Yassin, 20, who was met at the gathering, said the people need to choose a tested coalition to ensure that the country would remain prosperous, otherwise it would be ruined for the government would set the country’s direction.
“Even a person who is not yet eligible to vote like me knows how critical the matter is to the next generation, voters should realise how vital this is to them,” Siti Nurhanisah, who is a member of University of Malaya Police Volunteers, told Bernama.
A former VAT69 police commando who identified himself as Ayahanda Selamat, 55, said the opposition would not be able to maintain the prosperity brought by the Barisan Nasional (BN) since independence for they only knew how to talk, criticise and make promises like in Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan.
A Civil Defence Department member, Shasha Al-Idrus, 33, said as the country was built on the bedrock of unity of the people from various races, religions and cultures, the people should reject those who exploited the differences to cause disunity and disharmony to serve their political ends.
Pensioner Hamdan Ahadluddin, 52, said the choice made by voters would have a long-term implication on the future of the country and the world’s view on Malaysia.
“BN is on the right track and is consistent in ensuring that the country continues to prosper for the people’s well-being,” said Hamdan who represents Prihatin Rakyat Selangor, a non-governmental organisation. – Bernama