Najib to Shahrir: Stay, we need you

JOHOR BARU: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wants Johor Baru MP Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad to reconsider his plans to retire from politics.

The Prime Minister said Umno needed leaders with principles to continue leading the parliamentary seat.

"The Shahrir factor cannot be denied as even when he stood as an independent candidate under a different symbol, he still won," Najib said at the Johor Baru Umno delegates meeting here.

"We can only urge and plead with him (not to resign)," he said, urging Umno members to continue the hard work and keep Johor a Barisan Nasional stronghold.

Najib hit out at critics for saying that the country was going bankrupt, emphasising that Malaysia's foreign reserves stood at more than RM400bil.

"In the past the country lost more than RM31bil. This was half of the reserves of RM60bil at that time. The country did not go bankrupt," he said referring to the forex losses of the 1990s.

Shahrir, who was recently appointed Felda chairman, has repeatedly said that he won't defend the parliamentary seat in the upcoming general election.

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Shahrir was elected Johor Baru MP in the 1978 general election. He resigned as the MP in 1988 and forced a by-election when he refused to join Umno Baru.

He stood as an Independent under the key symbol and won the by-election with a majority of 12,613 votes.