ON HIS LAST LEGS, YET NAJIB DREAMS THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: UMNO TARGETS TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY WIN IN GE14

Among the list of things that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak wants in the upcoming general election is for Barisan Nasional to achieve a two-thirds majority.

Najib said this in a closed-door pre-general election meeting with BN coordinators today. This was according to BN leaders who were present at the meeting, including Sungai Besar Umno chief Budiman Mohd Zohdi.

“The prime minister mentioned about getting two-thirds majority. It is our hope in this election and Najib has hinted that achieving a two-thirds majority is very important,” Budiman told reporters outside the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) today.

Meanwhile, Najib had also indicated that he was prepared to shake things up for the next general election, telling respective BN parties not to expect status quo and that they should not expect that they can contest in their traditional seats.

According to Selangor Umno liaison committee chairperson Noh Omar, Najib had stressed to the BN coordinators on the importance of tolerance between component parties in the ruling coalition.

“We cannot contest based on the principle of status quo and we must instead contest based on the BN principle. To achieve this, component parties should no longer practice status quo.”

Noh said Najib, who is also BN chairperson and Umno president, had pointed out that the idea of maintaining the status quo had generally been abided by for three general elections and it was time for a change.

“Like what the president (Najib) said, it’s now time to make some changes because a particular seat does not belong to a particular party alone.

“We must see whether the seat is winnable (by certain candidates) or not and can be accepted by the rakyat or not,” said Noh.

MyPPP president M Kayveas had recently claimed that he has waited 17 years for the right to contest the parliamentary seat of Cameron Highlands in Pahang.

Kayveas had insisted that the seat was promised to him after it was created in the 2003 redelineation.

MIC president Dr S Subramaniam, however, claimed that the prime minister had informed him that the seat belongs to MIC.

Meanwhile, Noh also said that Najib had cited Sabah and Sarawak as an example of good cooperation among BN component parties.

“They have more parties there. We have four parties in the Peninsular so we have to remember that there won’t be strength if we only uphold our respective parties.”

BN coordinators are tasked to take care of specific constituencies and are often groomed to contest in the said area.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur liaison committee chairperson Lau Hoi Keong confirmed that Najib had emphasised on cooperation among BN component parties in facing the general election.

He also claimed that this would be the last pre-election meeting before the general election.

“The best one was the one in Janda Baik, (Pahang) three or four months ago. This is to give us fighting spirit for the 14th general election.

“The prime minister said don’t go extremist and very racist because we are diversified in unity,” he added.

– M’kini