Muhyiddin Wants Sabah To Show The Way For BN To Win Big

PENAMPANG, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin wants Sabah to show Barisan Nasional (BN) the way to achieve a bigger win in the next general election.

Muhyiddin, who is also the BN deputy chairman, said the BN win in the Batu Sapi by-election last week was a starting point in the party's resurgence after facing a serious challenge in the last general election.

"In Sabah, probably it (2008 political scenario) was not as serious compared to the peninsula because Sabah is still strong and referred to as the 'fixed deposit' for BN.

"However, the win should not make us complacent. We cannot be arrogant merely because of the two by-election (in Batu Sapi and Galas) victories because what lies ahead (political situation) is most challenging," he said in his speech when opening the delegates meeting of the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) at Hongkod Koisaan, near here. Also present was PBS president Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

Muhyiddin said although it was premature for BN to make any prediction, he was confident that the BN would continue to be the main choice of the people in the country.

"I still remember those days when Pairin was famous for the slogan 'Sabahans show the way' and armed with the Batu Sapi spirit, I'm confident 'Sabahans will show the way for greater BN's victory'," he said.

Muhyiddin also hoped that PBS and the other BN component parties, including Umno, could strengthen their respective parties, thus raising the BN's strength.

"Insyaallah (God willing)...with our strength, our enemies will shiver and desert their respective parties because they are not willing to face us...we have seen the opposition parties such as the PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) crumbling but the BN is coming up to become a much stronger party", he said.

He also stressed the need for BN component parties to practice the principles of consensus in whatever they did.

Muhyiddin said the federal government was now actively implementing the process of transformation, including economic transformation to fulfill the aspiration of the people to see a major change taking place in the country.

In the context of Sabah, he said the federal goverment was giving due consideration to the problems and grouses of the people in the state including issues concerning infrastructure development, the availability of business opportunities, increasing access to quality education, socio-economic development and the partcipation of Bumiputera in the public service.

"The federal government is serious in this matter. For example, we have set up the Cabinet Committee on Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputera chaired by the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) himself.

"We want to see an increase in the participation of Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputera in the federal civil service to at least 6.1 per cent for Sabah and 4.6 per cent for Sarawak," he added.