BN unique coalition difficult to emulate - Annuar Musa
SEREMBAN, March 20 (Bernama) -- The Barisan Nasional is a sound and unique coalition that is difficult for any group of political parties to emulate, said Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
The BN Publicity and Information Bureau chairman said several opposition political parties had tried to take a leaf from the coalition but all the pacts had ended in failure.
"Many try to emulate the BN...including Pakatan Harapan. In the past, there was the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) and others, but they all failed in the general election.
"What's the difference between the BN and the other coalitions that the DAP sets up? In the BN, we are honest with each other, even from the time of the predecessor Alliance. We are sincere among the races, we do not play politics.
"We accept the fact that the country became independent with the aspirations of the Malays, Chinese, Indians and other races," he said here last night.
Annuar, who is also UMNO Information chief, spoke at a ?Leaders with the People' event on 'Addressing the Opposition Slander in the Run-up to GE14'. Also present were MCA National Publicity chief Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker, Negeri Sembilan BN Publicity and Information Bureau chairman and Negeri Sembilan UMNO Information chief Datuk Jalaluddin Alias, MyPPP Information secretary Andrew Rajah and Negeri Sembilan MIC Youth chief S. Shanmugam.
Annuar said that the formula adopted by the BN, unlike the opposition, encompassed all races in the country.
"The BN is a legacy for Malaysians. The BN is the most expensive gift in the hands of Malaysians. Our country can only move forward if all the people can think as Malaysians and within the BN fold.
"In the BN, there is no place for us to harp on racial sentiments. We reject the DAP, not because of (DAP veteran) Lim Kit Siang, not because of (DAP secretary-general) Lim Guan Eng...we reject DAP because its political philosophy is not aligned to politics in Malaysia," he said.
The Ketereh MP said every leader in the BN understood well and respected the interests of all the races, which had been the key to the strength of the coalition all along.
"We learned that to govern the country, we have to possess wisdom and the art of negotiation. We cannot give vent to anger, conceit and impatience. We need wisdom, but not to lament, protest and humiliate...we cannot harp on racial sentiments.
"Many people in the BN component parties understand the spirit of Malaysia. The country needs leaders from among the races who understand one another. Only this formula can take us forward," he said.
Annuar said the current clash between the BN and the opposition parties, especially with the former UMNO leaders now in the opposition, was not due to problems associated with the party but more towards the power struggle.
"It is not a question of wanting to save Malaysia, reformation and such. It is about the individual power struggle. The coming general election is not about the future of (Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman Tun) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad), it is about the future of your sons and daughters.
"In his attempt to topple the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak), Dr Mahathir has resorted to doing so many things and he has gone to the extreme," he said.
"I am a Mahathir man, not a Najib man. During the Mahathir era, even after I lost in the general election, I was appointed a minister, but not under the Najib era. When I lost, I was not appointed a minister but made the chairman of Mara, and that too for just two years.
"I cannot serve a leader who is vengeful and fabricates stories. We will not come to the defence if something is wrong. We will reject leaders who slander and fabricate stories for their own interests," he said.
-- BERNAMA
