NOW HE GETS IT! GE13, very significant - Najib

PEKAN- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the 13th general election (GE13) on May 5 is most significant to him because if the Barisan Nasional (BN) is retained to administer the country, it would be the first time that he would be given the mandate to lead the government.

Najib, who is also the BN chairman and incumbent Member of Parliament for Pekan, said this in his speech at a breakfast programme with the Prime Minister at the Ketapang District Polling Centre, near here today.

Thus, the Prime Minister said that one of the assessments on his leadership was to what extent the electorate in Pekan would give their support to obtain a bigger majority compared to the 2008 general election.

Najib said a win with a bigger majority in the general election for the parliamentary seat this time would also enable him to gain more respect from the people in the country.

"If the people in Pekan give their solid support, then the people throughout the country would have more respect for me as a leader (head of government)," he said.

In the 2008 general election, Najib beat the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate, Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainudin by a majority of 26,464 votes, which was the biggest majority in the election.

Najib garnered 36,262 votes while Khairul Anuar obtained 9,798 votes.

Najib took over the helm as the sixth Malaysian prime minister on April 3, 2009 from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, after the 2008 general election.

-- BERNAMA