Najib begins nationwide tour with Kuantan cabinet meeting

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

February 08, 2011

A source says the tour is to solidify and strengthen the machinery in Najib’s home state of Pahang before the general election.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 – The cabinet will hold its weekly meeting tomorrow in Kuantan, the capital of prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s home state Pahang in what is seen as the start of his nationwide tour before calling for a general election.

It has been reported that Kuantan will be the first among many major towns that cabinet ministers will visit in a nationwide tour.

Najib is MP for the nearby Pekan royal town.

The Malaysian Insider understands that ministers will be making pit stops in Bentong, Mentakab and Kuantan to meet with grassroots leaders from the Barisan Nasional (BN).

“Part of the agenda is to solidify and strengthen the machinery in Najib’s state in preparation for the general election,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

During the recent Umno general assembly, Najib announced that he and his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, will embark on a nationwide tour to meet with party members.

Last Sunday, Najib had a closed-door meeting with Sarawak BN state lawmakers in Miri to discuss the state election planned for this year.

Najib had also met with BN members of parliament earlier in January to gather feedback on holding snap polls.

Political analysts are expecting that the state election will be held simultaneously with the 13th general election.

The federal government is considering holding snap polls only in the fourth quarter of this year to allow big-ticket economic projects to gain traction, delaying earlier plans to seek a fresh mandate in the first half of 2011.

Umno officials and MPs told The Malaysian Insider that Najib now favoured elections only after projects like the construction of the city’s mass rapid transit (MRT) and Sungei Besi development had kicked off.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) warned in its latest country report on Malaysia that Najib would need a strong mandate this year in order to survive Umno’s internal elections in 2012.

Despite repeated denials, Najib has already placed BN on an election footing, with most component parties — including Umno — putting off party polls next year to concentrate on the expected snap polls.

BN won only 140 federal seats in Election 2008, eight short of a two-thirds majority after opposition parties DAP, PAS and PKR captured 82 parliamentary seats and four more states. But it lost two MPS when the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) pulled out of the ruling coalition.

However, the three opposition parties who later formed Pakatan Rakyat lost six MPs when they walked out of PKR, the linchpin of the opposition pact. - Malaysian Insider