THE RIGHT CHOICE TO MAKE MALAYSIA GREATER
Remember what the country has achieved thus far; BN has delivered and will continue to deliver for the future
MY fellow Malaysians, today we will cast our votes in our country’s 14th General Election. We should be proud of our strong democratic tradition that goes back further and stronger than anywhere in our region. The right to choose your government is the bedrock of our democracy and Barisan Nasional will always protect that right.
But, I am sad that this election has been fought under unfortunate circumstances.
Since the last election in 2013, the opposition have gone to extraordinary lengths to topple the democratically-elected government in between election cycles, ignoring the will of the people as expressed through the ballot box, and not allowing us to govern peacefully during our mandated term. If the opposition resort to undemocratic means to acquire power, they will never rule democratically.
Furthermore, to make an informed choice at this election, voters must know the truth. And, the DAP-led opposition have done everything they can to obscure the truth with a tsunami of fitnah (slander). Their lies have become so outrageous that even the Western media are beginning to wake up to this. Indeed, one international publication wrote this week that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s speeches “contain little policy substance but maximum slander”. That is an extraordinary condemnation that he cannot refute — because, it is true.
It has been my privilege to serve you as Malaysia’s prime minister since 2009, and I am proud of what we have achieved together.
The 2.7 million jobs. The average growth of 5.4 per cent since 2010, which the world’s advanced economies could only wish for. The Gross National Income up by over 50 per cent, which represents a huge increase in the national wealth, and explains why the International Monetary Fund commends us for being well on the way to high income status.
These are the achievements of all Malaysians, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Do not let the opposition rubbish those achievements by saying they do not exist, or wildly claiming that the country is on the verge of going bankrupt. They criticise for the sake of criticising but offer nothing of substance in return. Worse, they make false promises they know they cannot fulfil. For example, they claim that they would remove the Goods and Services Tax but, have yet to propose how they would replace the RM43 billion it brought in last year.
Introducing GST was one of the hardest decisions I have made. I knew that it would lead to some increases in the prices of some goods and services, and that it would be painful for some Malaysians. But, I also knew that without GST, our economy would continue to be overly reliant on the price of oil. This is something that was out of our hands and any downturn in the oil price, as we experienced a few years ago, could without intervention have led to a serious recession that would hit the people hard. GST, however, made us fiscally independent and stable. And while there may be some short-term pain, I assure you that the rewards will be long-term and felt in the years to come.
For those Malaysians who are struggling to get by, we have introduced a huge range of programmes to help the Bottom 40 and others deserving of our help. The best known is BR1M — which opposition politicians cruelly wanted to take away — but there are countless other measures we have taken to help young people get training, micro entrepreneurs get credit, and all kinds of assistance for women, rural communities and many others. You do not hear a lot about some of these programmes, and the opposition will never mention them. But, the people know the efforts BN and my government has been making on their behalf.
As the son of Tun Razak, how could I do any different? He did more than anyone to uplift the Malays, the rural communities and the poor. He instilled in me that we must always fight for all Malaysians, and that we can never let any of our countrymen be left behind in our journey to national development.
The Felda settlers know how much Tun Razak did for them and how much they meant to him. BN and I are proud to serve them humbly to this day.
Yet, we have much more to do, and we have not always gotten everything right. But, we learn from our mistakes so that we can do better for the people in the future. We are honest about that, and our track record is there for all to see. You can believe our
As the son of Tun Razak, how could I do any different? He did more than anyone to uplift the Malays, the rural communities and the poor. He instilled in me that we must always fight for all Malaysians, and that we can never let any of our countrymen be left behind in our journey to national development.