Najib: Why is the rakyat so gullible?

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has lamented the gullibility of the rakyat who had bought into opposition claims that Bangladeshi nationals had been allowed into the country to vote in the last general election.

Sounding exasperated in his speech at the opening of the 60th MCA annual general assembly today, he urged the people to use their heads when dealing with the opposition's claims.

"The Malaysian public, don't be so gullible. On voting day, (the public) see dark skin-looking people and chase them but in the end found a PKR member instead of a Bangladeshi.

"Think lah... I think there is something wrong. The public is not thinking, too many people bought the story," he said, pointing at his head in emphasis.

Najib lamented that as a result of these "lies", BN lost votes in the last national polls.

"It went into a frenzy. What is wrong with the Malaysian people? Can't we all think?"

Reiterating the topic which he had raised before, Najib said that it would require 1,000 jumbo jets to bring in 40,000 Bangladeshis into Malaysia to vote.
 
"Do you think we can hide 1,000 jumbo jets? If it's one or two in the night, maybe but do you really think we can hide 1,000 of them?" he said.
 
Najib, who has used the claim as a running joke, said he had wanted to gather the alleged 40,000 Bangladeshis in a stadium to thank them when he visited the country last month.

"My failure there (in Bangladesh) was that I could not find them," he said.

'Pakatan also naik'

Najib also hit out at the opposition for criticising the government's move to hike prices of certain goods and services, saying that Pakatan Rakyat was doing the same in states it is ruling.

"Look at Selangor, they (opposition) say BN means 'Barang Naik' (price increase) but they increased their own salaries by 200 to 300 percent.

"They are even increasing their business licence fee by up to 400 percent, but when we hike a little bit, they make it a big issue," he said.

Najib mocked the state's salary hike, saying: "The state speaker's salary is more than the prime minister's. Is it logical? What contribution does the house speaker make compared to the prime minister?"

He added that the opposition would do the same if it was in BN's position.

Najib added that the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as the price hikes were necessary to ensure the economy's resilience.

"Economic crises will come, the only question is when. If our economic resilience is strong it will be easier (to weather the storm)," he said.