The Barisan Nasional (BN) is a political party that can endure in the modern age of democracy, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today.

He said no other party could match BN’s performance all these years having started out as Parti Perikatan (The Alliance) and later changed its name to what it is known today.

“Even though we have had our share of challenges and difficulties since the days of our inception, we have always remained resilient.

“That resilience is because we are committed to the whole concept of power sharing between the various component parties in BN, even to the extent that small parties in BN have the same rights as the big parties,” he said when opening the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) 27th general assembly in Kota Kinabalu.

Najib said as BN chairperson, he was committed in ensuring the concept of power sharing continued to be the guiding principle in the coalition.

He also said BN would continue to act on the principle of ‘wasatiyyah’ or moderation, in which the party would avoid acting too extreme that it would necessitate compulsion on the people to accept the party, nor be too liberal that it loses its moral values.

“We must stay on the middle path and being on the middle path doesn’t mean that we subscribe to mediocrity. Being moderate means to strive for excellence,” he explained.

In considering integration as a Malaysian way of life as prescribed by the nation’s forefathers, Najib urged Malaysians to come together as when the whole nation were in unison cheering for national badminton hero Lee Chong Wei’s quest for gold in the recent Olympic Games.

“We must create more moments of unity so that Malaysia becomes a country that is predicated on the strong sense of unity and patriotism.

“As we move forward as a country, we (will) gain recognition, we gain respect because we are a successful country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Najib reminded the people not to be influenced by the opposition’s attempt to confuse them on the BN government’s efforts to boost the country’s economy such as bringing in foreign investments.

“They (opposition) are not concerned about facts, but rather on how to demonise the government.

“And now, a 92-year-old man is making a ‘U-turn’. He is reversing everything he said in the past to confuse the people,” he said, adding that the opposition’s attempt was an act of political ‘psywar’ (psychological warfare).

The opposition’s ‘political game’

For that reason, Najib said it was important for BN to explain to the people of the opposition’s ‘political game’ and convince the people that the government was all out to bring political stability to the country.

“A country cannot progress unless it has political stability and that (political stability) is the backbone of our success in the past and in the future.

“If there is no political stability, you can forget about your dreams, you can forget about the future,” he said.

Najib also said BN has evolved into a political institution that has proven to deliver real results for the people.

“They (opposition) can say what they like, but we (BN) can deliver.

“We must work for the people because at the end of the day, the people will support us,” he said.

Najib said BN component parties should not be disheartened by the opposition’s political tactics of swaying the people’s confidence towards BN, but instead, BN leaders should become responsible leaders and stay focused on how to bring change for the betterment of the people.

- Bernama