Najib greets the crowd at ‘Leaders with the People’ event at Dataran Kukup. — Bernama photo
PONTIAN: Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday said that there is no way the opposition pact can govern the country if the parties in it have no confidence in each other.
“After 17 days of announcing of his manifesto, their 93-year-old leader in an interview said it was impossible for it (manifesto) to be implemented, or fulfilled.
“He said many of his new ‘friends’ were socialists, meaning they are not on the same page. He has already labelled the other groups as socialists. How to govern the country if we are not even sure of each other, if we are already at loggerheads,” he said during a ‘Leaders with the People’ event at Dataran Kukup here, yesterday.
Also present were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Tanjung Piai Umno Division chief Datuk Md Othman Yusof and Tanjung Piai MCA chief Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng.
In a recent interview with the Sunday Times of Singapore, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad acknowledged that Pakatan Harapan could not fulfill all the promises made in its manifesto, adding that his coalition partners were ‘very socialistic’.
Najib also expressed bewilderment over how Pakatan Harapan wished to ‘save’ the country, when the things mentioned in their manifesto, if implemented, would place the country under greater debt.
“What I’m surprised with is the 93-year-old leader (Dr Mahathir), supposedly wants to save Malaysia. But if we look at his manifesto, if he implements it, the country’s debt will increase manifold… because he wants to remove tolls immediately, within 100 days of coming to power, “he said.
Najib, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, once again urged the people to back the coalition, as it was crucial for the federal and state governments to be from the same team, so that various plans could be implemented.
He said the government had plans for Johor to emerge as the country’s new economic power of the country, and the goal could not be realised if there was no understanding between the state and federal governments.
“I hope we (citizens) all understand. We (BN) have various plans, what’s important is the Federal and state governments must be from the same party.
“We want to go forward. This 93-year-old man, I do not want to dismiss him, but he is ‘heading into his twilight’. How much longer can he carry us. We do not want to only take into consideration a year or two years, we want (someone) who will be with us for much longer,” said Najib, adding that he agreed with Johor’s slogan ‘Kita Pilih Biru, Bukan Haru Biru’ (We choose blue (BN’s colour), not chaos).
At the event, he also urged the people of Tanjung Piai to ensure the parliamentary seat and the Kukup state seat remains with BN, and wrest back the Pekan Nenas seat from the Opposition.
“If we win 2-1 in football, it’s still a win. But I want us to win 3-0. I do not want to concede a goal,” he said. — Bernama