Malaysia to lose sovereignty by third year of Pakatan rule, warns Najib

Najib, flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (left) and Umno secretary-general Datuk Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, stands in front of an honour guard during the opening of the party’s annual gathering in Kuala Lumpur on November 29, 2012. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Malaysia will lose its sovereignty and the economy will bleed severely in the third year under a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government, Datuk Seri Najib Razak predicted today, as he delivered his final presidential address to Umno delegates here before the party heads for polls next year.

The Umno president, in a speech to jolt members into election mode at the party’s 66th general assembly here, said that if PR implements its Buku Jingga promises, the management of Malaysia’s economy would no longer lie in the hands of the government.

“A government elected by the people, but passed to the hands of foreign institutions... Is that what we want?” he thundered to a sea of 2,718 delegates at the kick-off of the party’s assembly at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.

Najib said that in the first year alone under PR the federal budget deficit would soar by over 30 per cent.

By 2015, the country’s debt to GDP (gross domestic product) ratio would reach a staggering peak of 140 per cent.

“This... this is the quality and lack of economic planning by the opposition,” he said.

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