Be brave, Karpal tells Najib

He commends the PM for working hard for votes and advises him to hurry up in calling for the polls.

KUALA LUMPUR: The longer the 13th general election is delayed, the greater the possibility that Barisan Nasional will lose, according to DAP chairman Karpal Singh’s assessment of the political situation.

Speaking to FMT today, Karpal gave credit to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for “practically living on the road” in campaigning for votes but urged him to be “courageous and decisive” in calling for the election.

He said Najib could not afford to wait much longer because the BN machinery might soon burn out from all the hard work.

But he gave Najib’s wisdom the benefit of the doubt and predicted that he would announce the election date soon.

“The amount of campaigning he’s been doing for the last few months clearly indicates that the polls are around the corner, and he might go for it even before Budget Day on Sept 28,” he said.

The opposition strongman expressed doubt that Najib could make a major vote-catching announcement in the budget, saying he had already exhausted the government coffers with his “goodies”.

“There’s not much left to offer further to the voters in the forthcoming budget and it’s likely for him to go for the polls even before the end of September.”

Another indicator of an imminent announcement of the polls date, according to Karpal, is the currently escalating attacks on the Penang and Selangor state governments by the mainstream media.

He also noted that the Election Commission had been preparing for the election at full swing in the past few months.

He said Najib could not afford to wait much longer because he had used too much money and other public resources in his campaign. Furthermore, he added, the national economy was already in bad shape and likely to get worse.

“We in Pakatan can afford to wait it out, but he can’t.”