Malaysians fed up with Bersih, claims Najib

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak claimed he finds that Malaysians have become fed up with the Bersih electoral reform group or feel that its rallies do not bring any benefit to the country.

Asked to comment on the Bersih 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, he said the attempt to topple the government through rallies was constitutionally and legally wrong.

"We Malaysians must uphold the principle of the rule of law, otherwise there will be chaos in the country and the people will suffer," he said yesterday to Malaysian journalists covering the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders' Meeting 2016 in Lima.

Asked about the presence of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Bersih rally, Najib said this only showed that Dr Mahathir would engage in activities contrary to what he did when he was the prime minister.

He also said that Dr Mahathir's comments about the national economy were merely unsubstantiated political rhetoric without the support of facts from international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.

"If we are in an economic crisis, surely the rating agencies will lower our rating.

"The IMF and World Bank will issue criticisms and discuss measures that the government has to adopt," he said.

Najib said the absence of such action by the international agencies showed that the country was being well governed.

"There is no reason for us to be anxious," he said.

Najib said the government would continue to focus on good governance to ensure that the people benefited from all its programmes.

- Bernama