Najib: No basis for Arab Spring protest in Malaysia
(The Malay Mail) – Datuk Seri Najib Razak said there is no basis to mount a protest like the ‘Arab Spring’ in Malaysia, pointing out that the country has enjoyed 55 years of peace and stability.
In an interview with the BBC yesterday, he said the Southeast Asian country of 28 million people witnessed good economic progress and people had a lot to look forward to.
“We don’t think there’s a basis for the people to go to the streets to protest against the government,” he said when queried whether he was fearful that the protest against the government on the scale seen in Egypt could happen in Malaysia.
Najib, who is on a four-day working visit to the United Kingdom, said what was important in the Malaysian context was that change could be delivered from within and it was not just about changing the government.
“It’s what happens with that change. And if people want change, what I’m saying is that we can deliver change but from within,” he said during the live interview with BBC news presenter Jon Sopel, which was monitored here. Najib brushed aside claims that Malaysia was being governed in an autocratic manner and that the government was unresponsive to the people, suggestions drawn from Twitter feedback articulated by Sopel.
“We’re not (autocratic). We have to reach out to them. The problem with social media is that there’s an awful lot of disinformation out there and it’s up to us to correct that.
“And this is what we’re doing. We have to engage through the social media so that more and more people understand and appreciate what the government is doing,” he explained.
Najib also fielded questions about the country’s general election on May 5 which saw the Barisan Nasional (BN) being re-elected to power amid concerns over the conduct of the polls.
“We still maintain that the election was true, fair and transparent,” he said, adding that the government was prepared to be scrutinised on this matter according to the constitution and law of the country. “We have nothing to hide, we’re transparent,” he calmly told the interviewer.
