BN GOV'T MUST ALWAYS BE THE CHAMPION FOR ALL MALAYSIANS, SAYS PM

KOTA KINABALU (Malaysia), Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The ruling Barisan Nasional
(BN) government must be deeply committed in championing the cause of the
ordinary people if it wants to remain in power in the next general election and
beyond, said Prime Minister Najib Razak.

He said the fall of some of the established parties in other countries,
particularly the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, should be a lesson for the
BN to constantly serve the people better.

"I was made to understand that one of the reasons LDP lost (in the recent
general election) was because the government was said to be out of touch with
the people.

"This reminds me and the BN government including LDP in East Malaysia state
Sabah of the need to always subscribe to our ideals, that is to serve the people
and not to be served.

"Let the BN be the champion for all Malaysians," he said when opening the
Sabah-based Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) congress at 1Borneo, near here
Sunday. Also present was LDP president VK Liew.

Najib, who is also BN chairman, said the opposition in the country made an
impact in the last general election because the BN then was weak.

"It is not because the opposition is popular but it is because we lost
popularity among the people," he said.

In this respect, he called on the BN component parties to work hard to serve
the ordinary people.

"We must be committed and not just pay lip service to the people. This is
the only way for us to win the hearts and minds of the people," he said.

On development, Najib assured that the Federal government was going all out
to minimise disparity in terms of development between East Malaysia states of
Sabah and Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.

"That's why we give big allocations for Sabah and Sarawak with regards to
development in rural areas," he said.

Najib said the Federal government also recognised the wishes of the people
of Sabah and Sarawak to celebrate the formation of Malaysia and declared that
Malaysia Day, which falls on Sept 16 annually, would be a national public
holiday from next year.

"We recognised that the formation of Malaysia as an independent and
sovereign country was an important chapter in the nation's history," he said.
-- BERNAMA