US election shows people favour conservative values -Shahrir

He said in Malaysia, the parties with more conservative values are none other than UMNO and the Barisan Nasional (BN), and not the secular DAP and PKR.

"If we look at what is happening in the United States with Trump being the Republican candidate and Hillary Clinton representing the Democrats, voters have actually returned to conservative values which place family above the individual, which are also the core values of UMNO and BN.

"In fact, as I see it, I am more confident that in the coming election, the parties which are supposedly progressive, fighting for basic rights, are liberal and so on, will not be accepted by the people," he said when asked to comment on the US presidential election.

He was speaking to reporters after the Johor UMNO Convention themed "UMNO Spurs Advanced Malays" here today.

Shahrir. who is also the Member of Parliament for Johor Bahru, said the emphasis on conservative values which do not hamper progress, prosperity and other development had helped UMNO and BN gain greater support from the semi-rural and rural areas, while DAP and PKR were more for the urban areas.

"It is the same with the United States. Just take the example of the state of Florida, only the urban areas supported the Democratic party, but in the rural and semi-rural areas, they were for the Republicans, and this really mirrors the situation in Malaysia," he said.

Shahrir added that despite the strength of the conservatives, he hoped UMNO and BN were not complacent as there were still attempts from various parties to frighten the people that the present government was bankrupt, weak and could not tackle debts.

"This is what we must continue to fight by communicating information that we (Malaysia) are now far better compared to 10, 20 years ago," he said.

Meanwhile, met at the same event, Johor Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled said he was aware of the need to use data in preparing for the next general election