PN ‘motivated’ by showing in Melaka polls, says Hamzah

 

Hamzah Zainudin says Perikatan Nasional is confident of its future despite winning only two seats in the Melaka polls.

KUALA LUMPUR: The result of last week’s Melaka elections has given Perikatan Nasional (PN) “more motivation” after the coalition’s secretary-general, Hamzah Zainudin, noted the strong support it received from civil servants.

Barisan Nasional (BN) has formed the new state government after sweeping 21 of the 28 seats up for grabs and securing a two-thirds majority on Saturday, with Pakatan Harapan (PH) claiming five seats and PN just two.

However, Hamzah, who is also the home minister, said PN’s initial post-mortem with its component parties has given them some reason to celebrate.

“We found that there has been an increase in terms of support for PN, and that gives us more motivation,” he said today.

“There has been an increase in support from civil servants. This is because when I saw the early voting results, most of them were from civil servants.

“All of them voted for us, and that is something positive for us.”

Hamzah said although PN won only two seats, it was important to find a way to prevent more clashes that can cause greater splits in the country.

“That’s more important to me than anything else,” he said.

He said PN has engaged several organisations to produce in-depth analyses on the coalition’s showing in Melaka, which it will reveal at a later date.

Hamzah was speaking to reporters after a meeting with security industry stakeholders at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Commenting on a police investigation into a speech made at the Dewan Rakyat by Sepanggar MP Azis Jamman on concerns about the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and growing secession calls within Sabah, Hamzah said the Warisan MP should not be touching on issues which do not contribute to nation building.

“People cannot talk about such issues just for fun. If they say something, it should be helpful or resolve a problem, or a suggestion on how the people can live in peace and harmony,” he said.

“But if they issue statements which divide the people, of course we will take action.”

Hamzah also touched on the “report card” which Cabinet members have been instructed to present on their first 100 days in office as announced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in September.

The countdown to the 100 days began on Sept 1, and the report cards are due before Dec 10.

He said he held a meeting with Ismail yesterday, where he explained that General Operations Force (PGA) posts in borders and rural areas now serve as police stations. Since Nov 15, members of the public have been lodging reports at such PGA posts, which are then forwarded to the respective district police headquarters.

Apart from introducing an integration data verification system to make it easier to apply for death certificates, he said the home ministry has expanded the e-visa programme from 10 countries to 35 countries, allowing nationals from those countries to apply for Malaysian visas online as opposed to at Malaysian embassies. - FMT