Electoral system pledge

The New Straits Times
by Eileen Ng

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has pledged to uphold the country’s democratic principles and called on the Malays to close ranks and unite.

“If we are united, I will request theYang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament for the 13th general election.

“We want Malaysia and Umno to be respected by the world. So, go back, strengthen our unity and Insyallah, we will be successful in our struggle.” In a fiery speech that received thunderous applause fromthe 6,000 participants at Majlis Himpunan Perdana in PutraWorldTrade Centre yesterday,Najib said Barisan Nasional and Umno could win the next general election if the Malays were united and strong.

The participants comprised Umno members, representatives of non-governmental organisations and heads of government-linked companies and government agencies.

Present were Deputy Prime Minister and Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Umno vice-presidents Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi,Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Datuk Seri ShafieApdal, Umno secretary-general DatukTengkuAdnanTengku Mansor, Umno information chief DatukAhmadMaslan, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin andWanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

In pledging that Umno and Barisan Nasional would continue to uphold the country’s democratic principles, Najib said the government would not only defend the current electoral practices but also improve on them.

“We are aware that we must win over the hearts and minds of the people.

It is for this reason that I urge all of you to go down to the ground and meet the people.

“Tell them that Umno and BN will continue to defend the principles of democracy in the country. We will ensure democracy and a free and clean general election.” Najib said Umno and BN were not afraid of facing a free and clean election as the government would ensure that every election was free and transparent.

In citing an example, he said the opposition and BN representatives were around when each ballot box was unsealed for the counting of votes.

“So, how can there be phantom voters? We even display the electoral list for voters to check. This is our process.

“If we can manipulate electoral results, then we would not have lost five states. We would not lose our twothirds majority in Parliament and Pas would not have been administering Kelantan for the past 21 years.” Najib also advised Malaysians not to subscribe to the culture of street demonstrations, pointing out that the country upheld the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

“We do not like chaos, we like peace. We like a country where the people live in harmony and where we know our future will be better than today. ” Najib said the Majlis Himpunan Perdana was not meant to be a show of force but to demonstrate that the silent majority was strong and with the government.

He said if it wanted to, Umno, with its three million members, could mobilise an even bigger rally than the one on Saturday.

Najib also criticised the organisers of the Bersih 2.0 rally for wanting to show to the world that Malaysia was an undemocratic country.

He pointed out that the organisers had gone back on their word by first pledging to abide by the king’s advice to call off the rally, but later went ahead with it.

“They claimed that they wanted a peaceful walk but, in the end, it wasn’t because they wanted to show to the world that the government was purportedly undemocratic and disrespectful of human rights.

“In fact, we are very liberal. The majority of the online media and blogs criticised us, but we did not shut them down. The opposition claims that it is not being given space to campaign but it has already star ted campaigning.”