Opposition is no saviour of the people - Salleh

The move by some opposition leaders to quit their party showed the party was weak and is unable to be the saviour of the rakyat, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak. 

Referring to current developments, he said opposition parties had failed to unite its members to remain with the party. 

He cited former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhamad Taib's recent return to Umno from PKR, as well as the resignations of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Srikandi (women's wing) assistant secretary Hasnita Hishamudin, former Bersatu secretary-general Kamarul Azman Habibur Rahman, vice-president Hamidah Osman, as well as Srikandi head and founding member Anina Saadudin, who have all resigned from the party. 

"The reason for them to leave the party is they felt the party's struggles were in vain, they were worried about the split among Malays and felt that the party's struggle was not about its members and the rakyat as it was more concerned with the interests of individuals, as well as of cronies, and that the party has become a DAP tool. 

"The question is, can we trust such a party to govern our country ?" he questioned in a post on the blog sskeruak.blogspot.com, today.

Commenting on his note titled "The importance of choosing a strong party", Salleh quoted the view of New Zealand's political marketing expert, Lees-Marshment in his book "The Political Marketing Game (2011)'’ which states that to win an election, a party must have a good political marketing strategy.

According to the author, one of the strategies is, it must be a market-oriented party - that the party should have a great product that can be marketed to the people.

"If in the Malaysian context, what is the product? Of course, the product is the party’s image, the party’s contributions and unity of the party.

"In this case, only Umno and BN have this record," he said

Salleh also quoted former US president Bill Clinton in his book, "Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy (2011)", which stated that the people need a wise government for a strong economy. Besides being a smart government, it must also be strong, united, guarding the welfare of the people and not be divided.

- Bernama