Shafie Apdal: Comfortable victory will preserve sovereignty of Islam, survival of Malays
(Bernama) – Umno must not only ensure victory at the next general election, but must also ensure comfortable victory in order to preserve the sovereignty of Islam and the survival of the Malays in the country, said Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
He said a comfortable victory could lead to the formation of a strong government, and hence, making it possible for any policy to defend Islam and the Malays, as well as the poor in rural areas, be implemented.
The BN government will have problems to draft and approve new laws if it fails to maintain the two-third majority in the next general election, he said when winding up the debate at Umno General Assembly 2011 here today.
He also expressed confidence that BN was capable to win the next general election as it had been the most credible and trusted government with proven track record and was willing to carry out transformation for the wellbeing of the people.
The government has also proved its ability to face the economic crises in 1997 without taking any loan from the International Monetary Fund, he said.
He said while the United States and European countries were facing global economic downturn, Malaysia, under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s leadership, had managed to record a Gross Domestic Product growth of 5.8 per cent in the third quarter this year.
Mohd Shafie, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, said Mara, an agency under the ministry, would also strive to increase the participation of young people in entrepreneurship, besides continue sponsoring excellent students to pursue their education abroad.
He also refuted the allegation that the prime minister was not fighting for the Malays, saying that Najib had approved an allocation of RM800 million for Mara students overseas, despite the initial application of RM500 million allocation made by Mara.
