Strengthen the spirit of togetherness, PM tells UMNO, BN

All UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) members have been urged to strengthen the spirit of togetherness besides being sincere in the struggle to ensure that the party remained strong and successful in facing the 14th General Election.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said they could no longer remain complacent or be 'self-satisfied' because the political world was dynamic, not static, and always had its ups and downs.

"If we adopt the spirit of togetherness, we can become a stronger and more successful nation. If we look at the country's history, we can use the experience as well as several incidents where our commonality had resulted in the achievement of positive results that were beyond expectation.

"These included the time when we demanded for independence, with the spirit of commonality between the leaders such as Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Cheng Lock and Tun V.T Sambanthan, we succeeded in gaining independence in a much easier way than most other countries.

"In fact in the first general election in 1955, through the spirit of togetherness, the Alliance then had achieved outstanding success by sweeping almost all the seats," he said when opening the Delegates Meeting of the Pekan UMNO division, at the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Convention Hall, here today.

Also present at the event were the prime minister's wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Pahang Menteri Besar who is also Pahang UMNO Liaison chairman, Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob and Pekan UMNO division deputy head Datuk Abu Bakar Harun.

According to Najib, party members must also take the 10th general election (GE) in Pekan as a lesson when UMNO and the BN then almost lost because the principles of togetherness were ignored besides the external factors that were present then.

"For a majority of us, the nightmare of the 1999 GE when we almost lost, may still be fresh in our mind although many external factors had influenced the result, but what was also important was the internal factors which contributed to the outcome which I described as a nightmare.

"Today, I want to remind myself that this must be taken as a boundary so that it does not recur and since the GE, we rise again with a new spirit to improve the result," he said.

For the record in the 10th GE, Najib who stood in the Pekan Parliamentary constituency won marginally with a majority of only 241 votes against the PAS candidate, Ramli Mohamed.

At the same time, Najib, who is also the Member of Parliament for Pekan, reminded party members against betraying the party because it was the best 'product' so far that was capable of championing the cause of Islam and the Malays in the country.

"If we have something that is good, we look after it...do not create trouble. I have no other intention except to ensure that UMNO and the BN remain successful in Pekan and the other places.

"We represent the hope for the country's future...so we have to redouble efforts to strengthen the spirit of togtherness and lifelong loyalty to the party's struggles.

"If (you) don't like me, challenge me in the party, I too have my own soldiers, (we) can fight and see who wins, but don't ever betray UMNO because it is a sacred party for the Malays, one can have differing opinion but there is a method to adhere.

"We assemble here on the spirit of togetherness, we can criticise among us and offer opinions, I am willing to accept criticisms. If there is anything that is not right, we correct it. This is the purpose of our gathering, for improvement," he said to loud applause from the delegates.

At the event, Najib also handed out contributions of 500 cattle, including 20 which were his personal contribution, to the surau and mosques in the whole of the Pekan parliamentary constituency in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidiladha.