I was backstabbed – Najib
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said former Umno vice president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal had stabbed him in the back and he was “really hurt” by his actions in 2016.
“I do not care if he does not remember my deeds. I have (done) more for Datuk Shafie than to Tan Sri Musa Aman. I gave extraordinary opportunities to Shafie, making him vice president. If I did not campaign for Datuk Shafie, he would not be a vice-president.
“I could have appointed him as a Minister of Welfare to care for the deaf and mute, but I appointed him a Minister of Rural Development because I wanted him to bring change to the rural areas. I had many times told him to talk to Chief Minister Datuk Musa. I said both of these leaders were important to Sabah’s future, but many of my advice he did not listen, and I am very disappointed when certain circumstances arose. Shafie has stabbed me from behind. It feels painful,” he said.
Najib stated this yesterday at Dataran Regatta Lepa when launching the Semporna International Tourism Center, declaring Bum-Bum Island as a sub-district, and handing over native land titles to 1,000 recipients.
Shafie, the five-term Semporna member of parliament, left Umno and formed Parti Warisan Sabah in 2016 to take on Barisan Nasional.
Najib said in this struggle, a person must have loyalty to the leader, loyalty to the party and not personal loyalty.
“Never mind, he does not like Najib Razak, but I want him to be loyal to the party, to the main leader. It’s obligatory in the religion of Islam, if we are loyal to our leaders, our party will be strong, can continue the struggle because there is a lot we need to do,” he said.
“What more when a familiar friend stabs from behind ... it hurts. If you want to attack, attack like in Lahad Datu; we will fight back, but when a friend stabs from behind it feels painful,” he said.
Najib said what was important was that he loved the people of Semporna because they were sinless, loyal to Barisan Nasional (BN), and he thanked Datuk Nasir Tun Sakaran, Datuk Ramlee Marahaban and Datuk Yusof Abdal who were loyal to BN.
“We can continue our struggles because our future is still bright, because Umno is still strong. The other side cannot be believed because they do not believe in each other ... decades of being hostile, they can embrace each other. What kind of politics is this? Political play, hypocritical politics. Add a ‘rocket’ that wants to divide the Malays. We cannot let them,” he said.
Najib said he was sure if the opposition won, they would not have the heart to develop the rural areas, because BN could and he had come to Semporna to help the people.
He said because Musa, Nasir and Ramlee’s speeches were fiery, he would like to announce that on BN’s concerns for the people of Semporna, at the request of the three leaders, the road entrance to Semporna would be made from two lanes to four lanes.
On his second announcement, Najib said Bum-Bum Island needed a bridge. Therefore as prime minister, he would like to inform that the Bum-Bum Island bridge would be built.
“It will be built so that Semporna will change, will be the centre for tourism,” he said.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said yesterday all the policies introduced by the Barisan Nasional government that he leads are designed to bring about a better life for the people in the future.
The Prime Minister said these policies were realistic and could be implemented and were not something from the world of fantasy.
“We cannot make promises about something that we cannot fulfill or realise, for then these would be from the world of fantasy.
“We want something that can be a reality. An example is the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC), a concept of delivering services that has yet to be implemented by any other country in the world,” he said when opening the Tawau UTC here.
“It (the UTC) is recognised by the World Bank and by other international organisations as a unique and the best service because almost all the important central and state government departments are brought under one roof and operate seven days a week from 8 am to 9 pm daily,” he said.
Najib said services such as the UTC could never be implemented even in the developed countries.
“They have a saying ‘never on a Sunday’, which means they do not work on the weekend public holiday. However, in Malaysia, even on the weekend public holiday, we provide government services to the people,” he said.
Also present at the event were Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, Deputy Chief Ministers Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin and Datuk Seri Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, and Sabah State Assembly Speaker Datuk Syed Abas Syed Ali.
The Prime Minister said the Tawau UTC was built in about 10 weeks at a cost of about RM30 million and had the capacity to transform Tawau into an important growth centre driven by an efficient public service delivery system.
Citing an example of the service at the UTC, he said one could have the Malaysian international passport done in an hour, something that took up to two weeks in other countries. The MyKad identification card could be done in a few hours or in a day at the latest, he added.
Najib said the people attending to one matter at a UTC could also attend to other matters at the same time during the waiting period because many agencies operated under one roof at a UTC or RTC (Rural Transformation Centre).
Giving an example, he said that at the Tawau UTC, while waiting for the passport to be ready, one could complete a dental appointment at the 1Malaysia People’s Clinic for RM1 compared to paying hundreds of ringgit at a private clinic. This is what we call ‘People First’,” he said referring to the BN government policy slogan of ‘People First, Performance Now’.
The UTC was only one aspect of the BN government policy of giving preference to the needs of the people, he said, adding that the government would do much more if the BN was given the mandate again in the coming general election.
Najib said BN also had allocated RM1 billion for 120 school infrastructure projects in rural areas of Sabah and another RM1 billion for road projects in the rural areas of Sabah in 2019-2020.
“If it is said that the country of Malaysia will be bankrupt, why is there an increase in the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M), Pan Borneo project, UTC and etc. It could show that BN is managing finances well and efficiently,” he pointed out.
In view of the overwhelming turnout in Tawau and Semporna, Najib assured that both places will remain with BN.
The UTC Tawau is the 16th in Malaysia and the second in Sabah after UTC Kota Kinabalu, Keningau and coming soon in Sandakan.