Najib asks Umno faithful to back his reforms

By G Manimaran - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has appealed to his party’s grassroots leaders to support his reforms, amid signs that some of his administration’s moves to free up the economy and reverse the budget deficit have been bogged down by a lack of public support.

In an address to the party’s information chiefs in Janda Baik, Pahang on Friday night, the prime minister also urged Umno members to bring about “big changes” to restore public confidence and support for the party and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

As Najib prepares to enter his second year at the helm of government, his administration has been hit by a number of apparent policy U-turns, the latest being the delay in the introduction of the controversial but unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The government was also forced to call off a complicated two-tier fuel subsidy system and last December it retracted an unpopular five per cent real property gains tax (RPGT), proposed in Budget 2010, for properties sold after five years.

On Friday, Najib told party information chiefs at a special motivational get-together that Umno members must give him “solid” support to implement his administration’s policies.

The gathering in Janda Baik was the first this year and was notable for being held on the eve of the first anniversary of Najib taking over the unpopular Tun Abdullah Badawi as PM.

But Najib, whose popularity ratings remains above 60 per cent among Malaysian voters, has seen some of his push for reforms, in particular his proposed New Economic Model (NEM), hit by criticisms from even among party faithful who are concerned that freeing up the economy will not be in the interests of Malays.

“The prime minister emphasised that the government and party has implemented many reforms including the amendment to the party constitution where he was prepared to make changes to the way party leaders are elected.

“He also pointed out that he has introduced many policy changes since last April such as the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

“As such he wants Umno members to make big changes to ensure the fruits and effects are felt by the public...this is Datuk Seri Najib’s hope...to ensure big changes,” one party leader who attended the three day gathering told The Malaysian Insider.

Najib was formally elected party president on March 26, 2009 and appointed PM the next week.