BERSATU deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has heaped praise on Perikatan Nasional (PN), calling coalition chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s tenure as prime minister as “magical”.
Ahmad Faizal, fondly known as Peja, claimed Muhyiddin’s leadership took steps to ensure that the public had access to basic necessities despite the COVID-19 situation in which the nation entered a total lockdown.
“At that time, farmers could not work on paddy fields or palm trees, fishermen could not sell their produce. But the rice was still there. Cooking oil was still available, chicken and fish were not cut off in supply. It was almost magical. Like magic.
“This actually happened with careful planning, decisions are taken immediately with immediate implementation to ensure that the people’s necessities are not cut off in supply. The president had been working day and night to make this happen,” the Bersatu deputy president said in a fiery opening speech at the sixth Bersatu Annual General Assembly at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) today (Nov 23).
Ahmad Faizal also said that the Muhyiddin administration was more people-centric than the current government.
“The PN government is not an extremist or racist government as it is being labelled. The PN government is a government based on the interests of the people or people-centric, regardless of race or religion.
“Immediately after COVID-19, PN has managed to put the country’s economy in a strong position despite experiencing various difficulties,” he said.
Ahmad Faizal additionally said that the labels “Taliban” and “green wave” referring to the surge in Malay-Muslim conservatism championed by PN were utilised to scare off non-Malays from supporting the coalition.
He then fired shots at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, mockingly labelling Anwar as ‘magical’ due to supply issues affecting a variety of essential goods.
“This was different from what we are going through now. There is no MCO. There are paddy fields, but there is no local rice. There are thousands of hectares of palm oil plantations, but there is no cooking oil. There are livestock, but the price of chicken is soaring.
“This too, is magic!” he said.
Ahmad Faizal further called on party members to stay loyal to Muhyiddin who is the Bersatu president after four of their party’s Members of Parliament (MPs) declared their support for Anwar’s unity government.
“Obedience and loyalty to Tan Sri President must always be embedded in us,” he said, adding that supporting blindly can instead destroy a nation.
On Nov 8, the former youth and sports minister pledged his loyalty to Muhyiddin, saying his loyalty to Muhyiddin remains firm and undivided.
Ahmad Faizal also pledged to work hard to strengthen Bersatu, saying he has never worked together with political rivals or backed the Anwar-led administration.
On Oct 12, Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid was the first to throw his backing for Anwar, followed by Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman on Oct 30, Gua Musang MP Datuk Mohd Azizi Abu Naim on Nov 7 and Jeli MP Zahari Kechik on Nov 9, with all four MPs citing the wellbeing of their constituents as their reason for doing so. – Nov 23, 2023
Main pic credit: Malaysian Update
