'The people will evaluate BN and UMNO' - Shahrir Samad

The people will evaluate for themselves the performance of UMNO and Barisan Nasional and make a decision in the upcoming 14th General Election (GE).

Chairman of the Barisan Nasional BackBenchers Club (BNBBC), Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad said this will reveal the peoples’ trust towards the party following to the rise of various issues.

He said UMNO had returned as the peoples’ choice after various issues such as the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and the controversial National Feedlot Centre (NFC) was resolved.

“Currently, the 1MDB issue and political fund is the main concern as the people are using the social media platforms as a reference.This will have an impact on the party’s survival to rule.

“That's why we see the issue, although investigated and brought to trial, it will impact BN.

“In this process, the GE will be the most appropriate time for punishment. The people will punish the party, the people will decide and make a choice based on how convincingly can the ruling party answers the questions raised by the Opposition,” said Shahrir during a press conference held after opening the Johor Baharu division UMNO Youth delegates meeting in Johor Baharu.

Earlier, UMNO vice president, Datuk Shafie Apdal called on UMNO leaders to resolve the issues faced by the grassroots before focusing on other issues including the 14th GE.

He said that the grassroots trust should be maintained apart from taking their needs into account.

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Shahrir also said that the people should provide space for all issues under investigation especially 1MDB to be resolved without any accusations.

However he said, it is up to the people to continue placing their trust in the party or not.