Abg Johari’s warning not hot air, says chief political secretary
KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg’s stern warning to Barisan Nasional ( BN) elected representatives served as a reminder for them not to take the state BN’s landslide victory in the last state election for granted but to view it as a loud and clear message from the people on their bigger responsibilities.
In response to state Democratic Action Party ( DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s statement on Sunday where he described Abang Johari’s warning as ‘ mere rhetoric’, Chief Political Secretary to the Chief Minister Abdullah Saidol said the chief minister was sharing the overview of his inspiration and the leadership quality he desired as the new chief minister with the young audience at the National Transformation 2050 ( TN50) dialogue.
“Abang Johari acknowledged the various issues and queries brought up by the younger generation reflect how critical the youths are of their future prospects and the expectations that need to be addressed seriously by the government.
“His policies, administrative model and infrastructure platform will substantially take into account the younger generation’s concerns and future survival,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Last Saturday, Abang Johari also warned all state BN elected representatives not to fail the people since the state government has allocated RM5 million for Rural Transformation Projects ( RTP) to each state constituency.
If the projects were still unimplemented, he said the assemblypersons would be replaced.
Abang Johari acknowledged the various issues and queries brought up by the younger generation reflect how critical the youths are of their future prospects and the expectations that need to be addressed seriously by the government. His policies, administrative model and infrastructure platform will substantially take into account the younger generation’s concerns and future survival. Abdullah Saidol, Chief Political Secretary to the Chief Minister
However, Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, wanted to know the yardstick by which Abang Johari would assess the performance of each state BN assemblyperson.
To this, Abdullah who is state Barisan National Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) chairman, chided Chong for having the cheek to raise the question regarding ‘yardstick’ and endorsement of performance.
“I don’t think DAP cares much about that because their sole and only concern is about winning seats and to take over the government by all means.”
He also reckoned that Chong was perhaps ‘suffering from a lapse of memory.’
“Please be reminded and acknowledge that the state BN won 72 out of 82 seats during the state election.
“The state DAP lost five seats and their popular votes were tremendously reduced,” said the Semop assemblyman who also believed that Chong was attempting to divert the people’s attention from the ‘messy things happening in DAP’ with his statement.
Abdullah also emphasised that in almost every state election, BN will introduce many new faces to ensure that the people’s interests were well taken care of.
“This decision is taken by the state BN in the spirit of wanting to ensure performance and people- centric representatives are in place, not all the time solely for the purpose of winning a seat. We in BN know that Abang Johari’s stern warning is no joke and he seriously means it.
“But look at DAP with their same old face and family. When it comes to playing politics, their yardstick and performance deserves compliment,” he quipped and noted that the opposition party was losing steam because the people were no longer interested in the ‘ hot air’ they were spouting.