KUALA LUMPUR: The opposition has not been able to emulate the political understanding and family spirit enjoyed in the Barisan Nasional (BN) all this while, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“The opposition pact has tried to copy the BN but we can now see in Selangor the political understanding the three parties have tried to forge in it has gone to pieces.
“We have 13 parties (in the BN) besides friends of the BN but we are more successful as a coalition because were are sincere about achieving our common goals and believe in power sharing,” he said.
Najib, who is also BN chairman, said this when opening Malaysian Makkal Sakti Party’s 6th Annual General Meeting at Merdeka Hall, Putra World Trade Centre here yesterday.
Also present were Malaysian Makkal Sakti Party president Datuk RS Thanenthiran, BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and leaders of other BN component parties.
Najib drew attention to the fact that as BN chairman, he had to be fair to his ‘children’ in the coalition and give due consideration to all the components in making any decision.
He said the BN had to be inclusive because it was running a country made up of various races, beliefs and cultures.
“We need the support all communities in the country. In the end, as we know, politics is about numbers.
“The party that gets the majority gets to form the government and be in power.
“(Because of this) the BN structure gives some leeway despite consensus of the components needed to welcome a new party into the fold.
“We do not prevent, in fact encourage groups which want to form their own parties to support the BN,” he said.
This way the BN family could be expanded, said Najib, adding that without such an arrangement, many who wanted to support the BN would not be able to express the support.
Najib said that although there were some minor challenges in forming this structure, what was important was the support to BN election candidates from among its component parties.
The prime minister further said that although the opposition were good in criticising and spreading lies about the BN on social media and in their political talks, they came ‘nowhere near the BN’.
Instead, Najib said the BN was the more viable alternative as compared to the opposition because the people placed more trust in the various transformation and economic programmes it was undertaking.
“Be careful in elections because ‘imitation goods’ can never compare to the genuine and original. That is why we must support the BN,” he said.
Najib also stressed that political stability and the people’s confidence in the government was the key to making Malaysia a developed nation.
This would assure continued confidence in Malaysia by other countries, foreign investors, financial industry players and their own people, he said.
“That is why as BN chairman, I emphasise political stability, because it is fundemental to see a brighter future,” he added. — Bernama