No plan to bring down BN, only to replace Najib, says Mukhriz

Former Kedah menteri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir gave an assurance last night that the Citizens' Declaration is not intended to bring down the Barisan Nasional government but only aimed at appointing a new prime minister from the ruling coalition. "It needs to be understood that the objective spearheaded by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and signatories of the Citizens' Declaration is to urge for Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as prime minister. "There is no intention at all to bring down the Barisan Nasional government." He said that as such, it was illogical to say that Dr Mahathir's actions would benefit the opposition. "Will BN fall if Najib steps down? BN will still hold the majority of seats in the Dewan Rakyat. All that has to be done is the appointment of a new prime minister from BN MPs, not the opposition." Yesterday, Umno vice-president and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the move by the former party and BN leaders to form the Citizens' Declaration group with the opposition was out of line. Zahid, who is also home minister, described their act, in trying to change leadership as mandated by the people, against the democratic constitution practised in Malaysia. "What they have done do not make sense and unrealistic given the fact they were once revered leaders of this nation," he said in a gathering with Sabah Umno and referring to Dr Mahathir, a former prime minister who served for 22 years. Mukhriz, in the statement last night, said the opposition was agreeable that Najib be replaced by another BN leader in order to save Malaysia. "Logically, the opposition can easily win the 14th general election (GE) because of the people's rejection of Najib's leadership, which also means that BN is also being totally rejected. "Instead, the opposition wants Najib to be replaced with another BN leader before the 14th GE. Why? Because, they want to save the country from being destroyed by a leader who is abusing his power." Mukhriz said the opposition also understood and accepted the fact that Malaysia's democratic practices did not allow them to seize power from BN other than through the ballot box. He added that the statement by several Umno leaders asking people to wait until the next general election to change the prime minister was extremely damaging to BN interests. "Do they mean that the new prime minister will come from the opposition after BN is defeated in the general election? That is not Dr Mahathir's goal at all." He added that to save the country and to defend BN's position as the ruling government, Najib needed to be replaced before GE14. He warned that if Najib continued to lead the coalition, BN would pay a heavy price for it. A few days after quitting Umno, Dr Mahathir teamed up with key political figures and civil society leaders to initiate the Citizens' Declaration demanding for Najib's resignation. Over 50 other people, including his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and their son, Mukhriz, signed the declaration. The others included Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Datuk Mustafa Ali, Lim Kit Siang and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. – March 6, 2016.]]>