"Najib will Jail Mamak, that's 'Transformasi' in Bugis language."
Najib touts ‘transformasi’ over ‘reformasi’
However, he insisted that the government’s transformation programmes would ensure that it retains public confidence, adding that there was no need for the “reformasi” (reforms) that has been trumpeted by rival and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim since he was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998.
“The 2008 election caused a structural change. The public now has higher expectations and their attitude to leaders has changed,” the BN chairman said.
“What we need is transformasi (transformation), not reformasi,” he added.
The landmark 12th general election saw BN cede five state governments and its customary two-thirds control of Parliament when it lost a record 82 of 222 seats, in what has become known as a political tsunami.
The Najib administration has been rolling-out billion-ringgit initiatives since the Pekan MP took power just under two years ago, promising that Malaysia would be transformed into a high-income economy with per capita gross national income doubling by 2020.
The government has taken credit for positive indicators such as a 7.2 per cent economic growth and 15 per cent drop in crime, which it says was due to its Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
Najib also called for leaders in the ruling coalition to make the necessary adjustments to ensure that it retains public confidence.
“I am confident that the public still wants BN to govern, a BN that can satisfy the appetite for change,” the Umno president said.
It has been widely speculated that Najib will dissolve Parliament within the year despite not having to call for elections until mid-2013 to gain his own mandate after taking over from Tun Abdullah Badawi as prime minister a year after the last general election.
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