HULU SELANGOR, April 3 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak marked his first year as prime minister today by slamming his main political foe PKR, saying that people have lost faith in the opposition party.
He spent the day touring Hulu Selangor, ahead of the official campaign period for the April 25 parliamentary by-election there following the death of its PKR MP.
“So many of former members of PKR’s inner circle have lost faith in the party. Look at Sallehuddin Hashim, the former secretary-general of PKR... at one time he was one of main figures in PKR plotting to take over the Barisan government. He left the party, lost faith in the party,” Najib told the 2,000-odd crowd of mostly Malay and Indian folk at Felda Sg Tengi here.
The Barisan Nasional chairman appeared animated and proceeded to list down the names of PKR leaders who had left the party such as Mohd Ezam Md Noor, Zulkifli Noordin, and Mohd Fairus Khairuddin (former Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1).
“Ezam, who was once PKR youth chief, who once went to prison for (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, left PKR. Anwar asked him to fight me, to fitnah against me but he wouldn’t do it.”
“Another one is Zulkifli Noordin, now that is a principled man. You can tell he is principled because he is wearing a ketayap... asked Zul about Altantuya. He said it himself. Datuk Seri Najib was not involved in the murder. And he should know, because he was the lawyer representing one of the accused in the case.”
The prime minister, who was flanked by Agriculture Minister Datuk Noh Omar and MIC deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel, went to great lengths to prove his innocence in the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, which the opposition has attempted to link to him.
“I took an oath. I swore in the mosque that I had nothing to do with Altantuya. Can he (Anwar) do the same with his own case?” said Najib referring to the opposition leader’s on-going sodomy trial.
Despite the big turnout, there was a sense of nonchalance among the audience as they hardly clapped or cheered during his speech.
The PM took the opportunity to remind the people in attendance why they should vote for BN, as it did not matter if it was Umno, MIC or MCA, a vote for any of these is still a vote for BN.
“The area has always been a BN area. If you vote for BN, you are voting for a better future. We have Datuk G. Palanivel here.”
“Within Umno, MIC, MCA, there has always been an understanding, a victory for any of us is a victory for BN. That is what’s important, and this is something which has been done for generations since the time of our former Prime Ministers.”
Najib also said that the allocations given out today was not because there is an upcoming by-election, but because he is a man that kept to his word.
“When I announce something, I will keep to my word. Sixteen million ringgit has been given out for infrastructure purposes ... RM650,000 will be given for mosque repairs as well as public facilities,” said Najib.
Najib’s programme started this morning with the launching of Kelana Ehsan Foundation and meeting Felda settlers at Sungai Tengi Felda multi-purpose hall at 10am. He was scheduled to travel around the constituency the rest of the day.
BN is expected to field Palanivel, who lost the seat in Election 2008 to PKR’s Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
Zainal Abidin, who was formerly a Selangor deputy mentri besar, died last week of a brain tumour.
Nomination is set for April 17 while polling will be held on April 25.
It is understood that Palanivel is the only MIC candidate named for the seat while some 10 have been shortlisted by PKR. The later needs to retain the seat after the party was rocked recently by a spate of resignations of MPs and one expulsion.
There are 64,500 voters in Hulu Selangor, with the Malays making up 52.7 per cent of the total while the Chinese constitute 26.3 per cent, Indians approximately 19 per cent and other races at 1.7 per cent.
1 comment:
So Mr. Najiss , can we have a snap election this year?
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