Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, 4^th April 2010: 

Najib marks his first anniversary as PM by setting the bad example of BN abuses of power in the forthcoming Hulu Selangor by-election

Datuk Seri Najib Razak has established a new precedent in marking his first anniversary as Prime Minister by setting the bad example of Barisan Nasional abuses of power in the forthcoming Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election.

Najib visited Hulu Selangor yesterday and announced a new RM32 million housing project, involving 250 units, on a 14ha site at Soeharto Felda.

I support government housing projects for Felda settlers to uplift their living standards but as a Prime Minister who had listed fighting corruption as one of his six priority areas, Najib should be very circumspect in his actions to ensure that he is not guilty of political and electoral corruption in using government funds and promises of specific development projects to win votes in the Hulu Selangor by-election.

This is the first example.

During his visit in Hulu Selangor yesterday, Najib had to “buy insurance” to manufacture a very enthusiastic and rousing public reception– by bringing along 120 students who played the role as his band of “cheerleaders”, puncturing the Prime Minister’s walkabouts with shouts of 1Malaysia.

This is a most hypocritical stance as the Barisan Nasional Government has banned students from involvement in politics under the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) and refused repeated attempts by Pakatan Rakyat parties, student unions and the civil society to lift such undemocratic restrictions.

Why then use students from colleges and universities in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to be Najib’s cheerleaders in his pre-byelection visit to Hulu Selangor?

It is such cavalier disregard for right and wrong, and inconsistency of his action with his slogans whether 1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now slogan as illustrated by these two instances that is at the heart of the crisis of confidence faced by Najib in his first year as Prime Minister.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor