thank you, saifuddin abdullah

.. who is an umno supreme council member and a MP for temerloh, pahang (picture left).

gee, i never thought there would come a time where i thank an umnoputera. well, i did and it is because this particular umnoputera talk some sense when he chided his own BN members not to blame the opposition voters during the sarawak election.

after the sarawak election, when i read about the view from politicians, especially from BN of course, blaming those who did not vote for them, especially the chinese voters, i get so fed up.  these people, especially perkasa, were talking as though the chinese ought to vote BN, when they labelled the chinese as ungrateful for not voting BN. grrr!! so geram! i had wanted to say something but i was too mad. then, suddenly two days ago, saifuddin came out to say, just what i wanted to say:

“With all due respect, I ask my friends in the BN not to blame or accuse those who didn’t vote for the coalition as being ungrateful to the BN government.

exactly!

“In a democracy, we should respect the right of voters to choose whatever party they like. We also need to accept whatever their decision with an open heart although the results may not always favour us,” said Saifuddin in a statement.

such wise words! my sentiments exactly! the voters have a right to choose who they like to vote for.  BN, should not blame them when they do not choose them.  the way they blame them was as though they expect all voters to vote for them.  as though they are so high and mighty, that voters must vote for them; if voters don’t, then they are ungrateful.

i hope what saifuddin said would knock some sense into BN… and perkasa too. oops. perkasa has no sense at all to begin with, so very difficult.

here is the full article from malaysiakini.

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Deputy Mniister:  Don’t blame oppositon voters

23 April 2011

 

Umno supreme council member and Temerloh MP Saifuddin Abdullah has called on his colleagues in the BN ruling coalition to stop labelling opposition supporters as “ungrateful”.

NONESaifuddin – also the deputy higher education minister and one of the more outspoken members in the Najib administration – said BN should instead respect the rights of the voters.

“With all due respect, I ask my friends in the BN not to blame or accuse those who didn’t vote for the coalition as being ungrateful to the BN government.

“In a democracy, we should respect the right of voters to choose whatever party they like. We also need to accept whatever their decision with an open heart although the results may not always favour us,” said Saifuddin in a statement.

‘Do politics the different way’

While commending his party for doing the “best it could to shore up support in the recently-concluded Sarawak elections and past by-elections, Saifuddin said that it may be time to try a different approach.

“Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself has introduced a new approach in capturing the hearts of the people. I am optimistic that if the BN is consistent with our efforts now, BN will regain the trust of all races,” said Saifuddin.

However, he said that with the continued blaming of opposition supporters and intimidation tactics, it may well backfire on BN.

“How are we going to face (the voters) at the next elections if we choose to keep on blaming them? What if the tables are turned and they lambast us?

“What if they only vote for the opposition as a sign of protest now, but because of our negative ways, they continue to support them?” he asked.

In last Saturday’s polls, a sizeable swing of voters against the ruling BN led to the opposition doubling its number of seats from eight to 16.

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