PM: Learn from Dr M's mistake with Chinese votes

 

UMNO AGM Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has reminded Umno delegates of Dr Mahathir Mohamad's defeat in the 1969 general election after declaring that he did not need Chinese votes.
  
"How many times has Mahathir mentioned about his loss in the election during the (Umno assemblies)... the Malay votes were not enough (for him to win)," he added.

"He accidentally said he did not need Chinese votes and he lost, that is a lesson for him," he told delegates in his winding-up speech.

As such, Najib said declaring that the ruling coalition did not need Chinese votes was akin to the Malay proverb: "menang sorak, kampung tergadai" (Cheering but not gaining anything).

"Use your brains (guna akal)," he added.

The prime minister raised this after several delegates at the Umno general assembly this week took aim at Chinese voters for not supporting BN and urged the government to ignore them.

Using another example, Najib cited BN's recent victory in the Pengkalan Kubor by-election, where the Siamese community there only numbered 1,700.

"They are not many but if all of them went over to the opposition, we would have a 3,400-vote deficit; we would have lost," he said.

He added that former prime ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Abdul Razak Hussein would not have created the Alliance and BN respectively if they knew that Chinese votes were not needed.

"Surely there must be a reason. If we don't need their votes, what is the need for the Alliance and BN?" he said.

He added that the social contract was not only about winning elections but also for nation-building.

As such, Najib reiterated that the concept of BN had to be defended, but not at the expense of what is dear to the Malay community.