EU PARLIAMENTARIAN CONFIDENT MALAYSIA CAN FACE ECONOMIC CRISIS

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- A European Union (EU) parliamentarian has
expressed confidence that Malaysia would be able to face the current economic
crisis because the country and its banking system were better prepared to
address the situation.

Hartmut Nassauer, chairman of the European Parliament delegation to Asean
and Southeast Asia, said Malaysia had learned "some valuable lessons" from the
1997-1998 economic downturn.

He said he also hoped that bilateral relations between the EU and Malaysia
could be further enhanced as the EU regards its relations with Malaysia as
important because Malaysia was the 17th largest trading country in the world.

Nassauer also said the 2008 general election in Malaysia indicated that
"Malaysia is truly democratic and has shown tremendous democratic development".

The EU would hold its election in June whereby over 350 million people would
go to the polls in 27 countries to vote for members of the EU Parliament, he
said in an interview with Bernama during a recent two-day visit here.

"The EU does not have a single electoral law for these elections and many
details are still decided at a national level," he said.

Nassauer said he expected latest technology such as Facebook, You Tube,
blogs and online tools to be used for campaigning during the elections.

The EU Parliament is one of the three primary institutions of the EU and the
voice of the people, and has 785 members who are directly elected every five
years by universal suffrage.

During the recent visit to Malaysia, Nassauer and his delegation met with
Lower House of Parliament Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and Senate President Dr
Abdul Hamid Pawanteh at Parliament House, and extended invitations to both of
them to visit the European Parliament.

Nassauer and his delegation also called on Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, who is the minister in charge of
parliamentary affairs.

-- BERNAMA