Solve internal crises to regain support, BN parties told

Source: 
The Star
Publication date: 
Dec 03 2013

The Barisan Nasional component parties must resolve internal crises before implementing transformation to boost support of the people whom they represent, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The Prime Minister said he was certain that all the Umno “friends” clearly understood that the fate of their parties depended on the extent of their capability to implement transformation.

“It is only with political will that we can come up with a party that is accepted by the public,” he said in an interview at his office in Parliament House yesterday.

Najib said that as the party that buttressed Barisan, Umno was prepared to assist in strengthening the other partners in the coalition to face any challenges and to regain their strength in the local political arena.

“But our partners who are facing internal problems must first resolve their own predicament so that they will be more acceptable to the communities they represent.

“But if they get stronger support, this will ensure victory for Barisan in future and they will not be too dependent purely on the support from Umno,” said the Barisan chairman.

Najib, who is also the Umno president, rejected the perception that Umno’s strength resulted in the other component parties being perceived as weak and marginalised.

On the contrary, Najib said, Umno always adopted an open attitude and took into consideration the views of the other component parties in making decisions, whether for the coalition or as the Government.

“We don’t impose on them. We adopt the consensus approach. Any policy is made based on an open discussion. When a decision is made, it is based on the support of everyone,” he explained.

He also denied that Umno was behaving in a dominant manner to the extent that it impeded the voice of the other component parties, including controlling them from expressing their views on various issues in an open manner through the mass media.

“We are the ruling party. Barisan makes policies. The Opposition does not make policies. If there is any open conflict, it will destroy our credibility as the Government.

“We encourage exchanges of ideas behind closed doors. When it is behind closed doors, it will not be too apparent to outsiders, as though they do not voice their opposition vociferously. But the fact is that the views and aspirations of all races are debated in a closed manner before we make a decision,” he pointed out.

As such, Najib said, the attitude of the Opposition that was supposedly more open compared to the BN need not necessarily reflect that they were more democratic.

The Opposition liked to give the impression that they were championing something better than the BN, but their action did not reflect this because they were often inconsistent and in conflict with what they propagated he said.

In the 45-minute interview, the Prime Minister also touched on the support of the non-Malays for Umno and the fact that Barisan as the ruling party had never neglected any race in line with the 1Malaysia Concept, which was the thrust in nation building.

He said although the support of the other races, particularly the Chinese community, for the Barisan had declined as reflected in 13th general election (GE13) recently, he had never taken any action to deny their rights.

“But we hope that the future of our nation is better guaranteed through the policies that are moderate, progressive, inclusive and more just as championed by Umno,” he added.

 

Source/Fuente:http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/12/03/Solve-internal-crises-t...