KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak today urged police and military personnel going for early voting tomorrow in the general election to decide on their party by taking into account the government’s contribution to the nation and security forces and not by yielding to instigation.
The prime minister said the opposition did not appreciate the deeds and sacrifices of security forces to the country, and some even ridiculed their sacrifices.
“The opposition, besides ridiculing the functions and responsibilities of civil servants and the security forces, also intends to reduce the number of civil servants.
“Penang Institute, for example, once said that Malaysia should have only 430,000 civil servants,” he said in his latest post on his official blog, NajibRazak.com.
He said this meant that there was a huge possibility that 1.2 million out of the 1.6 million civil servants would lose their jobs and source of income.
Najib, who is also BN chairman, said the people should reject elected representatives such as these as their real ‘harapan’ (hope) was with the BN.
“Annually, there will surely be special announcements on the welfare and wellbeing of the security forces and ex-servicemen,” he said.
In fact, the BN manifesto for the general election clearly outlined how the party took into account the welfare and well-being of the security forces.
“It includes providing 45,000 units of Armed Forces family homes by 2030, some 10,000 units of houses under the ‘One Personnel, One House’ (SASaR) Programme, 10,000 units of 1Malaysia Public Servants Housing Programme (PPA1M) for the police and a special higher Haj quota for ex-servicemen and retired policemen,” he said.
Najib said the government had never prohibited, restrained or directed the security forces personnel on how they should exercise their responsibility under the system of parliamentary democracy practised in the country.
He said the government always recognised and appreciated the deeds and contributions of the security forces who were the heroes and heroines safeguarding the peace and security of the nation.
The prime minister also recalled the 2013 Lahad Datu intrusion which claimed the lives of several members of the security forces who came to the defence of the nation.
“I still remember the weeping of the family members of the security forces personnel who died in the defence of national sovereignty, but the opposition ridiculed the sacrifice and some even went to the extent of saying the intrusion was orchestrated.
“I remember the incident clearly because I went down to the ground to meet all of you (security personnel and family members), and every year I think of how to continue enhancing the quality of your lives.
“Choose stability, choose prosperity, choose success. Choose #HebatkanNegaraku to make our country great,” he said.
Najib said he hoped that the decision of the early voters would help determine a successful future for Malaysia. - Bernama