HAJIJI CONFIDENT SABAH NO PROBLEM

TUARAN: Prime Minister and BN Chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak deserves to be given a chance to continue leading the government and country after the next general election.

Sabah BN and Umno treasurer Datuk Hj Hajiji Hj Noor said Malaysians must remember that Najib who was then Deputy PM took over from his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi only about a year after the last general election of March 2008.

"Although Najib has done a wonderful job in the last three and a half years, he needs a fresh mandate of his own to carry on the good work.

"Not just an ordinary mandate, not just a simple majority, but Malaysians should give him a two-thirds majority to bring the nation to greater heights and, more importantly, achieve the aims of Vision 2020 which is only eight years away."

Hajiji also foresaw no problem in Sabah BN repeating its near-cleansweep victory of 2008 in both parliamentary and state seats in Sabah in the next general election.

"This is because Chief Minister and Sabah BN chairman Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman has proven his sincerity and capability in bringing development and progress to Sabah and I have no doubt that he will again lead Sabah BN into another landslide victory," he said. Hajiji, who is also State Local Government and Housing Minister, was speaking at a meet-the-people session at Kampung Bintangor, Sungai Damit, Saturday.

At the function, several former Opposition, notably Pakatan, grassroot leaders from the area joined BN through Umno.

They handed over their membership application forms to Hajiji who is also Umno Tuaran Division chief.

Hajiji said he was saying this not just because Najib is now the PM, but more importantly what he has been doing since taking over from as Prime Minister.

"The achievements of Najib over the last few years are too many for me to list here. Hardly a week passes without the Prime Minister announcing something, including mammoth projects worth billions of ringgit.

"The most famous of which is of course the 1Malaysia concept which he introduced upon taking office and which today is a household catchphrase.

Even kids or school children know about it," he added.

Hajiji said 1Malaysia is not just an empty slogan, for Najib has followed it up with numerous new programmes and policies including the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

"And of course, the BRIM payment of RM500 for Malaysians earning below RM3,000 introduced by the Prime Minister is unprecedented, not just in Malaysia but perhaps in the world. And beginning next year, we will have BRIM 2.0 so that even our younger generation can benefit.

"Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde has given Najib a pat on the back," he said. (DE)