Don’t cause chaos, Najib tells opposition

The prime minister says the opposition must accept the result of the upcoming 13th general election if it believes in democracy.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said today he hoped the opposition will accept the result of the upcoming 13th general election and do not find excuse to cause chaos if it loses.

He said the opposition should respect the decision of the people because it was a topmost principle in the parliamentary democracy system practised in this country.

“We must accept whatever is the decision of the people. If they [opposition] believe in democracy, they cannot reject something which has been decided by the people.

“If we uphold the principles of parliamentary democracy, this is the fact,” he told a press conference after chairing an Umno supreme council meeting, here.

Najib said this when commenting on a statement by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who urged the people to view seriously the threat by Anwar Ibrahim to turn Kuala Lumpur akin to Tahrir Square in Cairo, if his aspiration to become prime minister did not materialise in the coming general election.

Najib said if the opposition did not respect the law, it would create a situation of rejecting the rule of law and its effect would be bad for the nation.

“Respecting the law is a basic principle in the country; the process of democracy demands that we respect the laws of the country,” he said.

He said he was confident the Election Commission (EC) was capable of ensuring the general election to be held would be fair and clean.

Meanwhile, Najib denied that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had used the word “stupid” when the latter described the call by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng that the public wear red, green and yellow outfits during the Chinese New Year celebration organised by the Penang Barisan Nasional.

He said the function was merely being held to celebrate the Chinese New Year which is very meaningful to the Chinese community in the country.

“Why tarnish a function organised with good intentions with political elements which have got nothing to do with it. If he [Lim] wants to carry out a function, by all means, we don’t obstruct, why take down the 1Malaysia poster and my picture, this is a Chinese New Year celebration,” he said.

Lim, in a statement today, said he regretted Muhyiddin’s remark that he was “stupid” in asking the people to wear clothes with three colours to the BN Chinese New Year Open House in Penang, and slammed him (Muhyiddin) as being a racist.

The celebration, which is expected to attract 60,000 people with the presence of sensational star K-pop singer Psy who is well-known for the song “Oppa Gangnam Style”, was also criticised by the opposition.

“He said change DAP style, he copied the Gangnam Style [to do a parody]. He wanted to invite Psy to a function in the name of the opposition pact but when Psy preferred to attend our function, it wrecked their [opposition's] programme, that is the actual story, they can’t get, they condemn,” said Najib.

- Bernama