PM: Bersih trying to seize power

SEPANG: Elections in Malaysia have always been clean, Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday, dismissing allegations
of polls fraud by electoral reform group Bersih.
He said the rally on July 9 was not about electoral reforms.
Instead, the organisers had wanted to portray the current government as autocratic.
“We have never cheated in an election.The rally was never about electoral reforms.
“They wanted to paint Malaysia as though we are like the ‘Arab spring’ governments in the Middle East.
“They
were also trying to seize power from a government that was put in place
by the people,” he told a crowd of about 3,000 people who had gathered
at the Bunga Raya Complex of the KL International Airport to greet him.
Najib had been abroad on official visits to Turkmenistan, the United Kingdom and Italy.
He said he had explained to British Prime Minister David Cameron what
the July 9 rally was all about and that Malaysia was committed to fair
elect i o n s.
He also told Cameron to turn a deaf ear to claims by certain quarters.
Najib met with the British prime minister at 10 Downing Street, London, last week.
Describing his meeting as “ver y p r o d u c t i ve ” Najib said Cameron had queries on many issues.
He
added he had told Cameron that “there was room for dissent” in
Malaysia, but as a government, the public’s interests must be looked
after.
Najib also pointed out that Bersih had rejected the government’s offer to have the rally in Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam.
This, he said, showed that Bersih went ahead and held the rally just to provoke the police.
On
claims that Barisan Nasional had an unfair advantage when it came to
campaigning during elections, Najib said the government was prepared to
debate the matter.
“The opposition held ceramah and campaigned everywhere and everyday ... that is still not fair?” he said.
On his visit to Rome, where he met Pope Benedict XVI and forged
diplomatic ties with the Vatican, Najib said it was done to show that
the government was inclusive.
He said that the government was
willing to engage and hold dialogues with those who cherished peace and
tranquility in line with the principles of the Global Movement of the
Moderates, a concept he had initiated to counter extremism. “We want to
tell our friends, the Malaysian Christians here that if they respect us,
we will respect them,” he said.
Bernama reported that Najib had cancelled a holiday with his family abroad to spend more time with the people.
The
prime minister said he was thankful to his wife Datin Seri Rosmah
Mansor and their children for having agreed to come back earlier from
overseas.
“I felt I should return home and I was prepared to
forgo the holiday for the sake of Malaysians back home.” Najib said he
had informed Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that it was
important for both of them and other ministers to go down to the ground
to meet the people.
“We have to meet the people. We have to
tell them that they can depend on the BN government and that BN is their
best choice.” Also present to greet him were Muhyiddin and Home
Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
Najib was greeted
with a banner carrying the signatures of about 1.2 million Malaysians
expressing their support for his leadership as the prime minister. The
signature campaign was initiated by the Malaysian Indian Muslim
Congress, an associate member of Umno.