Saturday March 1, 2008

Pak Lah: BN will bring progress

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB and IAN MCINTYRE

BACHOK: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has appealed to the people of Kelantan to vote for Barisan Nasional if they want opportunities to uplift their state.

Centre of attention: Abdullah arriving for the campus groundbreaking ceremony in Bachok Friday. A huge crowd has turned up for this event.

The Barisan Nasional chairman cited its Mentri Besar-in-waiting, Datuk Awang Adek Hussin, the son of a fisherman who made good, as an example as what would be possible for people in the state.

He said Dr Awang Adek, who rose out of poverty to become the assistant governor of Bank Negara, was the right man to lead Kelantan into transformation.

“Normally we do not announce who is to be Mentri Besar early.

But we do it early this time so that people know who they are choosing,” he said yesterday after the groundbreaking ceremony of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan’s campus in Bachok.

Abdullah said that at times he felt sad that the PAS government had urged Kelantanese not to vote Barisan, although it was the coalition that had brought all the development to the state.

“I cannot force you as everyone has his own mind. But let me just say that Barisan’s plans are concrete and practical and they will be implemented to bring development as you have never seen before,” he added.

He said plans worked smoothly if the Federal Government and the state government were the same.

Abdullah stressed that no state should be left out from development, adding that Kelantan had a huge potential for growth.

He said the Federal Government planned to give the state an allocation of RM7bil for its various programmes and this was never done before for the state.

PAS has been in power in Kelantan for 18 years.

At the press conference later, Abdullah said the PAS state government had done nothing for the people.

“A government must give its best contribution but they have no vision and no contribution.”

To a question, he said Dr Awang Adek was Barisan’s choice because of his qualifications and experience and contacts.

Election

Saturday March 1, 2008

Pak Lah: BN will bring progress

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB and IAN MCINTYRE