Hopes are pinned on Najib KOTA KINABALU:
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Deputy President Datuk Chin Su Phin has cautioned the Barisan Nasional (BN) to be wary of the recent call by PAS for Datuk Sen Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to continue as the Prime Minister.
He said it was merely an Opposition ploy because it is the PAS view that if Abdullah were to continue as Prime Minister, it will give the Opposition another chance in trying to topple the BN in the next general election and form the Government.
It is common public views that if Abdullah were to continue to lead the BN, the Coalition may lose in the next general election, said Chin yesterday.
“We hope that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will take over the Prime minister’s post as planned in March and when he becomes the Premier, we hope he will restructure the BN, in particular the Government, both at the Federal and State levels by dropping those leaders who are no longer suitable or corrupt or involved in abuse of power.
“The performance and leadership of Najib are very crucial because the people are hoping to see the implementation of new policies and for Najib to lead the BN Government to a new era,” he said.
Commenting on the BN’s failure to retain the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat, Chin said Chin Su Phin the candidate and the BN Coalition itself should be blamed for the defeat in the by-election as the poll outcome clearly showed the Malay voters are still divided.
Although the results of the last general election in March 2008 had taught the BN Coalition a lesson, still the Government is not firm when it comes to making decisions, he said, citing the issue on the proposal to setup a coal-fired power plant in Sandakan.
“Most of the Sandakan people and the environmental groups are strongly opposed to the project and. There fore, the Government should call off the project immediately. Nobody can deny that Sandakan is facing inadequate electricity supply but we have other feasible alternatives of power sources.
“After all, the Government has also been emphasizing on the need and importance of protecting our environment all this while,” he said. citing the issue on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) as yet
another example of the BN Government’s indecisiveness and lackadaisical approach in the decision-making process.
He said the existing QEH main tower had already been vacated, while the vacant land behind it is already in place for the construction of the proposed twin- tower building to take off.
“But it is very sad to see that the authorities concerned still have to refer to the engineering consultant report on whether to demolish QEH main tower block or not,” said Chin, urging the Government to go ahead with construction of the proposed twin-tower building immediately in the interest of the people and Sabah.
He reckoned that the twin-tower construction project should be awarded to capable contractors with proven good track record in the building and construction industry.
“We believe the country has a lot of capable contractors like Tan Sri Ting Pek King who completed a resort project in Langkawi and also the Terminal 2 of the
KKIA well ahead of the time of completion.
“Now the question is whether the Government wants to implement the twin- tower building at the QEH, and our hope is there should be no further delay to the project,” said Chin.
Commenting on the sudden resignation of Datuk Roderic Fernandez as the Sabah State Attorney recently, Chin described it as a big loss to Sabah as Roderic is a good and capable lawyer and Attorney General.
As his (Roderic) three-year contract is not due until May this year, Chin felt that the sudden resignation of Roderic was something unusual but declined to elaborate further.
