LONDON, Thurs:
Datuk Seri Najib Razak will not challenge Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for power because as a “true Umno man” he will not risk destroying the party his father built. The deputy prime minister and Umno deputy president described himself as a loyal party member who subscribed to an orderly leadership change as has been the Umno convention.
Najib was responding to a question at Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs here, about the likelihood of his contesting Abdullah for the party presidency following the Barisan Nasional’s poor showing in the March general election.
He said he made his stand not on the basis of courage or cowardice but of “core values”.
“I believe what is important is that whatever position you take, it must be a core value personal to you. My father (second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein) helped to build the party. I am not going to destroy it. I want to continue to build the party further.”
Najib had earlier delivered a lecture on “Malaysia in the face of new global challenges”. He was on the final day of a four-day working visit to the United Kingdom.
“Basically I am a true party man who believes in the traditional way of leadership transition,” he said to an audience of influential individuals in business and public life.
The event was held in association with the Asean-UK Business Forum.
He said that as Umno was already weakened in the aftermath of the general election, the last thing it needed was the division that would ensue from a battle for the leadership.
“What’s the point of inheriting a position when you lose in the general election? I don’t want to lead the party to defeat,” he said.
During the question-and-answer session, Najib also explained the government’s affirmative action policies which sought a more equitable society and were necessitated by the country’s political realities.
He also shared his views on the importance of an education system that promoted creativity and inventiveness.
In his speech earlier, Najib touched on wide-ranging issues including Malaysia’s economic growth, Vision 2020, the effects of rising fuel and food prices, the 12th general election in March, Malaysia’s commitment to international trade liberalisation and the country’s bilateral ties with the UK.
On Malaysia-UK relations, he believed that much more could be done given the long historical ties between the two countries and the strong bonds of friendship among their peoples.
“We must not leave our relationship in a state of benign neglect,” he said, referring to the term he used in an address to the UK business community in 2005.
He called on the upper echelons of the British administration to step up bilateral ties.
He noted that no British prime minister had made a trip to Malaysia since John Major in 1993.
“I’ll like to see the (British) prime minister leading a high-powered delegation (to Malaysia) to underscore this (longstanding relationship),” Najib said.
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