Party and leader can't be separated - Najib

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the party and the leader cannot be separated. As such, he said, if a leader was frequently criticised, the party would become weak.

"If we bolster the leader, we will strengthen the party. When the party is strong, we will succeed in the general election.

"Thus, this is the ingredient for our success," he said when addressing more than 20,000 people during his working visit to the Gopeng RTC today.

In this regard, Najib said, now was not the time to be quarrelling among ourselves.

"Now is the time for us to unite and look at the national transformation agenda to achieve the status of a developed nation," he added.

The prime minister said the Barisan Nasional (BN) led by Umno together with the other component parties, had already built an institution which could not be matched by other parties.

"I have been to many countries. Many old parties have collapsed or lost power but the BN and Umno still stand strongly, and this must be defended," he said.

He said the challenges faced currently were also different compared to the past.

"In the past there was no social media nor the term 'viral'. In the past if there was no newspaper, there was no news. But today, just write in the blog, write in the Twitter, in the Facebook, they can become viral.

"And these are the challenges facing us, how do we tackle all these," he said.

Najib said that after becoming prime minister on April 3, 2009, he had to face a more energised opposition, particularly in Perak.

"Perak was different then, no longer Amanjaya because Perak then was not peaceful (aman) nor successful (jaya).

"We were then worried what would happen to Perak under the opposition, but thanks to the spirit of consensus, because we had reached a consensus, we succeeded in taking over the administration of the state of Perak," he said.

In the 13th general election, he said, many people had predicted that it was not possible for BN to retain Perak which was alleged to have been regained after three independent assemblymen returned to the BN fold.

"We have proven that when we achieve a consensus, when we are united, when we can think of the right and smart strategies, the BN succeeded in defending Perak in 2013," he said.

Najib said when he took over as prime minister, he was faced with the challenge of rehabilitating Malaysia which was also affected by the world economic depression.

He said he had introduced the economic stimulus package and last year Malaysia recorded an encouraging economic growth rate compared to the other countries, especially in the ASEAN region.

"Later, I introduced the new economic model because we aspired to turn Malaysia into a developed nation under Vision 2020, introduced by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"I will continue to carry out the policies made by this leader for the good of everyone," he said.

The prime minister said if there were problems, they should be resolved together.

"In any administration there will certainly be loopholes, man will definitely have weaknesses, sometimes it may not be because of me but in the administration.

"I am determined to do the best, all of you give me your support and confidence, I will do the best for our nation and people," he said to loud applause from the people present.

He said the BN would not lose in the next general election if the members work together as a team.

"The support from all of you today, the support of all the BN component parties and all races, is a Malaysian value based on solidarity and the 1Malaysia spirit, and insya-Allah (God willing), we will continue to succeed as a nation," he added.