DUNGUN: To become a prime minister, one should feel the pulse of the people, regardless of race and religion, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today.
He said a good prime minister should also know the people's problems, their aspirations and needs, not just for the current times, but also many years to come.
Najib said these were the things that were playing in his mind when he became the PM because his aim was to turn Malaysia into the top 20 developed nations of the world, and a country well-respected by many others.
"In fact, King Salman of Saudi Arabia is so impressed by our policy of moderation that he has chosen Malaysia to set up the King Salman Center for Global Peace in Malaysia.
"If Umno is against Islam, the Saudi King will certainly avoid our country. This shows the success of Umno in taking the right path to uphold the religion.
"We practise moderation and take the middle path in defending the Shariah," he said at the ground-breaking ceremony of Rumah Idaman Rakyat at Kampung Santong in Paka here this afternoon.
A total of 229 units costing RM70 million will be built over 10.4 hectares under the project at Taman Desa Idaman.
Taking his swipe at the oppositions, Najib said the group were only good at giving empty promises and not holding up to their principles.
"Today they criticise something, the next day they will 'lick' back their criticism. Their target is just to topple the government.
"This is not Islam. Islam teaches us that our principles and intention must first be pure and our ways of doing things must be correct. In politics, we must also adhere to these Islamic principles." he said.
Withouth namiong nanes, he added that any politicians, who are anti-Islam and questioning the special privileges accorded to the Malays as well as affirmative policy are not fit to become the prime minister.