KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) are asking Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim not to look back and to continue to drive Malaysia to become an advanced country.
BN chairman who is also Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said although there are criticisms from various quarters towards the country’s leadership and the existing government, these matters should be ignored for the sake of national development.
“The people in the country want the Prime Minister, together with the 19 parties in the existing Unity Government, to continue to drive Malaysia to become an advanced country,” he said.
The UMNO president said this while speaking at the Unity Government National Convention 2023, at Dewan Merdeka, World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL), here today.
Ahmad Zahid said that he and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and other colleagues in the Cabinet will definitely continue to support the noble ideals that the Prime Minister wishes on the international stage.
“This is a world-class leader that we must support. We (UMNO and BN) request Datuk Seri Anwar to bring Malaysia back to the forefront, and be one of the leading nations in the ASEAN region,” he said, while asking the audience to give the Prime Minister a standing ovation.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the convention, held today, also clearly shows that the country’s new political future is being sketched, which upholds pluralism and diversity by defending the Federal Constitution.
In the meantime, he said although UMNO and BN only won 30 parliamentary seats in the last 15th General Election, the coalition was complementary to the Unity Government.
“If Pakatan Harapan has 82 (seats), without the 30 (BN seats), there is no Unity Government. Datuk Seri (Anwar) we are not thinking about personal interests, but we are thinking about ‘mudarat’ (harm or disadvantage).
“Which ‘mudarat’ is far greater… (from) that side or this side? We have decided that working with Datuk Seri is a small ‘mudarat’. Insya-Allah, it has turned into an advantage for Malaysians as a whole,” he said.
Meanwhile, witnessing the people’s support for the Unity Government, through Malaysia MADANI open houses in several states, Ahmad Zahid said that if all parties in the government were willing to help the Prime Minister, in addition to the idealism that had been translated into good policies, he was confident that the Unity Government would survive the 16th General Election.
The Unity Government National Convention, held for the first time, opened its curtain with the Unity Government National Women’s Convention and the Unity Government Pemuda Puteri National Convention, which were held simultaneously this morning.
