GE13: Najib: Chinese taken for a ‘good ride’

KUALA LUMPUR: The Opposition, particularly the DAP, has taken the Chinese for a “good ride” by making them believe they could change the government even when bumiputra and Indian support remained with Barisan Nasional, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said that by using the Ubah (Change) slogan, the community was under the impression that it was possible to change the government.

But in reality, he added, the government did not fall even when the majority of the Chinese supported the Opposition.

“This is a blatant lie to the Chinese. They became convinced that by voting for the Opposition, they could change the government.

“The Barisan government has remained intact because in reality, with the bumiputras and the Indians supporting the coalition, the government cannot be changed,” he told a press conference after a closed-door briefing with Barisan's newly-elected MPs.

Najib said the lie by the Opposition was similar to the promise made by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to take over Putrajaya on Sept 16, 2008.

“The Chinese have been taken for a good ride by the DAP. They believed this lie and that's why they voted en masse for the DAP although we (Barisan) have helped them so much.”

Najib said if the Chinese had maintained the level of support similar to the 2008 polls, Barisan would have secured a two-thirds majority.

The Barisan chairman said the Opposition had also made up other stories, such as 40,000 Bangladeshis being flown into the country to vote for the ruling coalition.

Najib addressing the press conference after a closed-door briefing with Barisan’s newly-elected MPs at PWTC in Kuala Lumpur.

 

“Until today, there is no proof of this allegation. If we want to fly in 40,000 Bangladeshis, we would need 100 jumbo jets. This is illogical. Has anyone seen 100 jumbo jets landing? This is a big lie,” he said.

On Anwar's refusal to accept Barisan's victory, Najib said the Opposition shouldn't be selective and only accept results in states it won such as Kelantan, Penang and Selangor while rejecting the outcome in places they lost.

“If you don't want to accept, then don't accept all the election results. Don't be selective,” he said.

Najib also disagreed that Barisan's election setback was due to a rural-urban divide in the voting pattern and stressed that the support for the ruling coalition in some urban areas, with large numbers of Malay voters, had increased compared with 2008.

(Source: The Star Online)