Najib explains why GE13 is important

This was the frank opinion of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak when asked to elaborate on why this particular election is so pivotal.

Najib said whoever takes the throne at this election will be responsible for building on the success of 30 years of hard work in order to realise the vision for Malaysia to become a developed nation by 2020, and seeing it through.

“That ambition was set way back in 1991, so when it happens, it will be the culmination of 30 years’ work. “Whoever wins this election will have a chance to set the direction for Malaysia through the 2020s and beyond,” he told in an interview with AFP, which was published on his blog.

However, given the severity of the situation, Najib remains optimistic about regaining the much sought after two thirds majority in the Parliament, despite admitting that the battle for it will not be an easy one.

The optimism blooms from the reforms that he had been introducing and implementing in stages in the country.

“On a national level, we’ve been delivering big changes in people’s lives — with almost 45,000 households lifted out of extreme poverty, nearly half a million new job opportunities created last year, and gross national income up by 49 per cent since 2009.

“We’ve launched major government and economic transformation programmes, per capita income has risen from US$6,700 (RM20,340) in 2009 to US$9,700 in 2011, and we’ve introduced free primary education and a minimum wage (for workers).

“We’ve been able to govern effectively because we’ve had a majority that many other governments would envy. But we’ve also been doing a lot of work locally, talking to voters, acting on their concerns. So when we go to the polls, I’m confident that we will get a strong mandate,” he said.

Najib said the reforms were necessary because people’s expectations evolve with time.

Najib also said that he wanted to deliver for younger voters as they are observant about what the government is doing for them.

“We have to demonstrate that we are changing and keeping up with the times. We have to reform our politics, our government and our economy.

“We have scrapped the 50-year-old state of Emergency; repealed the ISA; improved media freedom by ending the requirement for newspapers to renew their licences annually; expanded youth participation by allowing students to join political parties; and we will repeal the Sedition Act,” he explained.

On addressing corruption, Najib said the matter was one of his administration’s top priorities and measures undertaken to combat it include introducing a new Whistleblowers Act, harsher punishments for graft offences, an online database of government contracts as well as special corruption courts.

On the Sabah invasion incident that has shocked the nation, Najib said it served as a great lesson that security should not be taken for granted.

“We have enjoyed a long period of peace and stability in Malaysia, but the Lahad Datu incursion has been a wake-up call for the whole nation and a reminder that external threats remain.

“It doesn’t matter how powerful a nation is, or how strong their military might; from time to time you will face challenges.

“In Sabah,we have put in place new measures, like the Special Security Area (now called Eastern Sabah Security Command or Esscom), to beef up surveillance and monitoring of the coastline and prevent incursions from happening again.

“In the first instance, it was right that we tried to solve the incursion through diplomacy. Once diplomacy failed — through no fault of Malaysia — I ordered the military and police to strike. And let me be very clear: I will never give up an inch of Malaysian soil, and I will never apologise for defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he stressed.