Najib: BN not easily threatened
Wednesday, 20 September 2006 (Source: New Straits Times)

PENAMPANG -- The Barisan Nasional will not bow to demands or pressure from any quarters that are considered to be against its interest.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the BN was united and would not be easily threatened.

Without referring to anyone, he advised BN component parties to always "look at the larger picture".

"There is no room (in the BN) for those who are narrow-minded," said Najib, who is BN deputy chairman, when opening the Parti Bersatu Sabah’s 21st annual congress here yesterday.

Also present were Chief Minister and Sabah BN chairman Datuk Musa Aman and representatives of BN component parties.

Elaborating on the subject at a Press conference later, Najib said it was intended as a reminder because political parties, sometimes, tended to make demands to gain political mileage.

However, it has been shown that a lot of problems were solved within the BN structure.

"The important thing is when it comes to the crunch we are together," he added.

Citing the PBS congress theme of "Patriotism the Basis for Unity", Najib said unity was the basis for peace, political stability and speedy development.

He described the choice of the theme as an illustration of the "progress" within the PBS.

The Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan-led PBS, the oldest political party in Sabah, abruptly left the BN on the eve of the 1990 general election but returned to the coalition three years ago.

Describing PBS as an important component member of the BN, Najib said he was glad to note the party’s renewed commitment to the coalition.

Noting that Sabah was allocated RM17 billion under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, Najib wanted the PBS, a major partner in the state coalition government, to play a key role in the development of the state.

The state government must ensure that all segments of society in Sabah benefited from the allocation, he said.

"Do not lose focus in developing the State and it must be ensured that the benefits of the allocation also reach the grassroots," he added.

On another matter, Najib said the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah was complex and would need more time to be resolved.

He said many of the illegal immigrants from the Philippines had destroyed their identification documents, making it difficult to send them back.

"We have been talking to the Philippines government. We have to be very patient because it is not a problem that can be solved overnight," Najib said.

He was commenting on an earlier remark by Pairin that an urgent solution was needed to tackle the issue of illegal immigrants in the state.

PBS had been raising the issue since its formation in 1985.

"I believe that when the problem of illegal immigrants is solved, the people of Sabah will be able to live in peace," Pairin said.

The two-day congress was attended by more than 1,000 delegates and observers from the party’s 60 divisions.

It is also election year for the party which saw Pairin returned unopposed.

Also unchallenged were his three deputies — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, State Resources and Information Technology Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai and Datuk A.K. Alliudin Pengiran Tahir.