KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 – Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak says Barisan Nasional, including top Umno leaders, as well as the Malays are supportive of the various liberalisation measures he has announced since taking over as Prime Minister on April 3 this year.
He expressed confidence that this would translate into votes for the ruling party in the 13th General Election.
He also said that the spirit of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in its macro form would continue but the instruments used to achieve to restructure society and achieve equality would have to be changed.
“I have engaged with the key players before I announced this and they believe that it is time for us to change, review and move forward. I think people realised that,” he said when asked if his political party was behind him on all the moves he has been doing.
However, with all the measures announced, that does not mean the country has abandoned the need to have more equitable society, as it remains the main goal, he said in an interview with Adam Bakhtiar on CNBC which was aired in its entirety today.
A short version was aired last Wednesday where he touched on the ringgit and the economy.
During the half-hour interview, Najib who is also Finance Minister, said the party was working towards gaining the people’s confidence and vote.
“A policy is as good as translated into votes. That is one of the fundamentals of democracy and ultimately you have to go to the people. I want people want to judge by my actions and hopefully they will judge it favourably when the time comes,” he said when asked if the party will gain strength with the measures introduced.
Najib said he was confident that Malaysians as a whole, including the Malays and Bumiputeras would realise that the changes put in place by the government was the best way to move forward.
He stressed that he was delivering on his promises when he assumed the office. Among the most recent liberalisation measures was repealing the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) guidelines with immediate effect covering the acquisition of equity stakes, mergers and takeovers.
With the FIC repealed, it means dropping the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity requirement for Malaysian companies seeking public listing but they will now be offered 50 per cent of the 25 per cent public shareholding spread.
Najib said that the government would engage and communicate with the people on the measures taken.
He said the Malays would support the liberalisation.
“There are some really good Bumiputera entrepreneurs and corporate players. Some of them run major corporations and run them very well as you know. So they are not people without substance.”
The only thing new in the policy is that the government would identify the right Bumiputera company, which has high potential for growth.
“If you support the companies that are deserving and promising, I don’t think even the non-Malays will criticise you for that. I think they want to see it being implemented in a fair manner and we will do that,” he said.
To suggestions that he was reversing his father’s policies relating to Bumiputera equity participation, he said: “In terms of the goals, Tun Razak’s vision is still alive but the path we choose (and) the instrument to get there must be new, (they) cannot be the old instruments.
“Times have changed, old instruments have not really worked, not delivered. But this whole notion of having a fair and equitable society is a dream and I think all Malaysians share that dream.
“It is just that it must be fair in the way we implement it, we must ensure that no ethnic group is marginalised and disincentivised as well,” said Najib.
“So, within the premise of what I have mentioned, I came up with the tag line of 1 Malaysia … we must work together as one people, one nation and, above all, one dream,” he said. – Bernama
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