Najib: God willing, BN will survive in Perak – Malaysiakini

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is confident that the newly-formed BN government in Perak will survive, albeit with a slim majority.

He is also confident that the three independent state asemblymen in the state who have pledged support for the BN will not return to Pakatan, reports Malaysiakini .

Justifying the BN take-over of the state government from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) najib reiterated there was “nothing unconstitutional about it.”

The deputy prime minister told Bernama that if the state assembly members were loyal, the government would survive even with a mere majority of one seat.

"Remember the PAS government in Kelantan which survived for many years with just a single seat majority.

"Even with that, if the members are loyal you can survive. God willing, we intend to survive," he said after opening the 27th World Customs Day in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

Najib reiterated what had happened was done within the framework of the constitution and there was "nothing unconstitutional" about it.

He also said the BN would abide by the decision of the Sultan of Perak, who had acted in accordance with the state constitution.The BN officially took over the Perak administration Fridayerday, with Pangkor assemblyman Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir being sworn in as the new menteri besar.

The swearing-in ceremony took place before the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, at Istana Iskandariah in Kuala Kangsar, amid refusal by the Pakatan former state government to accept the reality that it was no longer in power.

Pakatan lost its majority in the state assembly when four of its legislators quit their respective parties recently.They are Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and former deputy speaker Hee Yit Fong (Jelapang) who have pledged their support to BN. This also included Bota assemblyman Nasaruddin Hashim, who within 10 days, re-defected to Umno after joining PKR.

‘They will not return to Pakatan’

Asked what would happen if the three independent assemblypersons in the state who had pledged support for the BN returned to Pakatan, Najib said there was no need to speculate and if that happened, he would answer.

He said the BN-led government must be a clean government, not only a people-friendly government but also one with integrity.

On how the BN government would convince the people of Perak of its sincerity, Najib said it would depend on the leadership and policies undertaken by the new government

I will stress that firstly, we want to be fair to all races and all communities and we will make sure this will happen.

"We will also make sure that it is an effective and efficient government. In other words, all our programmes will be delivered according to the wishes of the people, " he said.

To a question, he said the takeover of the Perak state government by the BN was done correctly.

"Please ask Pakatan why they started this. They were talking about forming the government on Sept 16. This is the principle that they mentioned, that they accepted and tried to put into practice.

"They wanted to topple the federal government by stealing 31 BN members of parliament. It was not the BN. Ask them," said Najib who is also the Perak BN chair.

He said the BN, as the government in Perak, must now concentrate on serving the people.

Asked to comment on Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin's refusal to step down a menteri besar in defiance of the sultan's order, Najib said whatever decision made by the ruler must be respected and any attempt to challenge the decision would tantamount to contempt of the institution of constitutional monarchy.”