KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) is confident of winning the upcoming 14th General Election (GE14) as the “Malay tsunami” that has been touted by some of the opposition will not happen, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak as reported by Channel NewsAsia.
“There will be no Malay tsunami in the 14th General Election. I am not saying we are the best party in the world but the alternative is awful,” he said as quoted by Channel NewsAsia.
In an interview on April 6, Salleh who is Umno treasurer, said Malaysia has undergone significant development under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and has made significant growth in the past five years, a fact which the media has largely ignored.
He said Malaysia’s economy has made enormous strides since Najib took office in 2009 and its gross national income had increased by more than 50 per cent while 2.3 million new jobs were created, unemployment and inflation were kept low, and the prevalence of poverty being almost eradicated.
“While the media may choose to ignore all of this, the Malaysian people, whose lives have witnessed a drastic improvement over the past nine years, know better. We are therefore confident of retaining our majority in Parliament,” said Salleh.
Salleh said the opposition, which has historically secured the bulk of its support from the Chinese population, should be more concerned about whether the Chinese would do so in this election as well.
“That the opposition has aligned with someone like Dr Mahathir (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad), who repeatedly raised racial tensions while in power, should discourage Chinese voters from voting for the opposition,” he said.
He said Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) led by Dr Mahathir posed no threat to Umno as no party that has ever been created out of revenge and failure within Umno, had ever succeeded in the history of Malaysia.
“The departure of Dr Mahathir and a handful of his cronies within the party, most of whom are retired and played no active role, has not had any impact. Umno has never been more united, and therefore stronger, than it is today,” he said.
On Goods and Services Tax (GST), Salleh assured that its benefits would soon be “felt” by the people.
“As numerous economists have made clear, the economy will be in significant trouble if the government had not introduced it at the time.
“Instead of making decisions based on short-term electoral considerations, we took difficult decisions that were in the best interests of the nation and its people. This journey, towards strengthening our economy, is an ongoing one and we are confident that those who have not yet seen the benefits will do so before too long,” he added. -– BERNAMA