‘I feel like seeing the King tomorrow’

With the people gripped by election fever, Najib quipped that he wanted to seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong tomorrow.

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno president Najib Tun Razak said Friday night he was confident of winning big in the upcoming national polls as the party appeared united judging from the numbers amassed in its anniversary rally.

The prime minister told some 70,000 Umno members that the support shown for the ruling coalition’s Malay lynchpin was good enough for him to meet the King to dissolve Parliament tomorrow (Saturday) in a fiery speech indicative of the party’s confidence to march into elections.

“With this kind of mood, I feel like seeking an audience with the King tomorrow,” he teased the crowd during his opening speech of the party’s 66th anniversary celebration at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here.

“Are you ready? Can we win? What about tomorrow? June? Next year?,” he asked them. The crowd continued to cheer him as he spoke.

Speculation is rife that Najib would dissolve the parliament on May 14, paving way for the 13th general election on June 9.

The Umno president will face his first elections as prime minister, in the face of alleged internal division, in need of a stronger mandate to implement liberal economic reforms silently opposed by the party’s hardliners.

The split was said to be a major factor behind the ruling coalition’s dismal performance in the last general elections. Five states fell to the opposition while Barisan Nasional lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.

Umno sources told FMT earlier today that the rally was aimed at gauging party unity and testing its machinery and mobilisation strength in the run up to the elections.

The 13th general election, speculated to be held in the upcoming months, will be the ruling party’s toughest yet.

‘We are ready’
But the premier appeared convinced that the party has now “risen from the ashes” and is united more than ever, saying it is now ready to take up their opponents Pakatan Rakyat despite their considerable strength.

He said Umno’s rule for 52 years was not achieved through “coincidence” but through the consistent support of the country’s majority regardless of race.

“We are ready… we have been there before and we will triumph now,” he said to thunderous applause from the crowd which formed a sea of red blanketing the 100,000 capacity stadium.

The Umno president added that the ruling coalition’s stay in power is a necessity to prevent the opposition, whom he called “uncivilised” from “destroying” the country, accusing them of instigating the violence that broke out in the poll reform rally on April 28.

Najib and company claimed polls watchdog Bersih 3.0, which held the rally in demand for a free and fair election, was an opposition tool to oust the present government through a violent coup, an allegation the latter denied.

Police had dispersed tens of thousands who rallied for free and fair elections with tear gas and water cannon after some breached a police barricade at Dataran Merdeka, which the courts had barred to the public over the weekend.

While opposition and Bersih 3.0 blamed the police for excessive force, Najib in his speech claimed the police were instead the victims of violence from the unruly crowd.

Umno is more democratic
He also lashed out at the opposition for not practising the democratic principles it claims to champion but instead chose to shift the blame to others.

Najib said the attitude of the opposition which preferred to denigrate Umno and deny the success of the party which has served the people for 66 years, actually showed they had nothing to show for the country.

“They can talk, criticise us in all sorts of ways, they can claim to more open, democratic but it is actualy Umno that is more democratic than them.

“Their leaders are not chosen through the democratic process, but picked as de facto leaders. Can’t say anything, criticise a little also cannot.

“When a leader of theirs says street demonstrations are not good for the country, better to assemble in a stadium, his senatorship is not renewed.

“Just a slight difference in views, the party has ‘democratic’ in its name, where is the democracy? After that, Umno is faulted for everything,” he said.

Seven principles
He also laid out seven principles to guide the people in making their assessment and consideration for the coming general election.

Najib said the principles were formulated based on the almost seven decades of Umno’s contributions to the country.

“I want to lay out seven principles which can help us to make an assessment and consideration. Firstly, between the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition, which has the leadership that is trustworthy and keeps its promises? Who does everything? Barisan Nasional!”

“Besides that, of the 22 promises made by the opposition…most of them are not fulfilled in Selangor. Who failed to manage the water issue. There is a whole lot more where they failed.

“Secondly, we have to determine that tomorrow will be better than today. Between BN and the opposition, who one can assure that Malaysians will be much much better off tomorrow than today,” he said.

Najib said the people should also be able to evaluate which side was capable of preserving the supremacy of the constitution, the sovereignty of the country, laws, the sanctity of Islam and the Malay rulers, as well as the rights of other races in the country.

The fourth principle, he said, was the people should be able to make a choice, between the BN and the opposition, of the party which was capable of managing the country’s economy.

“The fifth, who can preserve harmony in the country. The sixth, who can bring systematic changes and reforms? Who brings about the country’s transformation?,” he said.

The last principle, said the prime minister, was that the people should be able to choose the party which could preserve the country’s harmony to enable Malaysia to achieve the status of a high income country.