Local: Sarawak

'Sarawak will not be left behind'

2009/08/08

By Farrah Naz Karim: Reporting from Perth

TO ensure that no states are left behind, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has directed his ministers to visit Sarawak frequently and identify ways to improve the lives of the people there.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the order was issued in a recent cabinet meeting as the government felt that the people of Sarawak must be given more help in various areas, including education and economy.

Muhyiddin said the government was aware that in view of the coming state elections, the opposition was trying hard to convince the people there that Barisan Nasional had overlooked their interest.

However, Muhyiddin said BN had the support of the state leadership as reflected in close cooperation between the Federal Government and Sarawak government in the state's development.

Muhyiddin said BN needed to work 10 times harder to regain the people's mandate in the next general election.


"As I said before, with a strong leadership, we can build on the party's strength

"We are striving to get close to the people by carrying out sound initiatives and policies that are people friendly.

"This and more of such efforts that we will push for, will change the perception of the people, the Malays and the non-Malays, towards Umno and BN," he told the Malaysian press in Perth, Australia during his official visit.

Muhyiddin noted the tendency of the opposition, including its leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to campaign in rural and interior Sarawak lately, thinking that they could break the ruling party's support in the state as well as Sabah, which are considered BN strongholds.

This, he said, was to realise their ambition of taking over the Federal Government in the next election.

The Sarawak assembly ends in July 24, 2011 although word on the ground suggests that it could be sooner due to the support for a Najib-helmed BN.

On Najib's statement in Pagoh recently that he had a good relationship with his deputy, Muhyiddin said the partnership enabled them to enjoy a strong, cooperative and effective leadership.

"What is most important is that I understand the vision and direction of the prime minister.

"What I have been doing in the past few months is not merely to assist, but to realise what the prime minister had envisaged."

Muhyiddin dismissed suggestions by some quarters that BN was sidelining the interests of the Malays by placing less focus on the New Economic Policy.

"Although the matter is not frequently mentioned, it does not mean that we are shirking our responsibility to the Malays."

He denied the opposition's claim that there was no longer a share for Malays in the economy.

Muhyiddin said as underlined in the Constitution and government policies, the interests of the Malays were not only always protected, but would be continuously improved although the approach might be different.

He cited the setting up of Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) as a new initiative aimed at spurring the involvement of Bumiputeras in the economy.

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