Published: Wednesday May 8, 2013 MYT 8:36:00 PM

GE13: Pak Lah - Najib still the best man to lead Malaysia

Don't racialise election results by blaming any particular community, says ex-PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is still the best person to continue to lead the country, his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Wednesday.

The former prime minister said he was giving Najib his full support and hoped that the latter would continue with his agenda for transformation.

"Malaysians have sent a clear message that they want change and Datuk Seri Najib must respond to this by intensifying his transformation programme to address issues such as corruption, crime and the cost of living.

"I believe that he has the right strategies in place to demonstrate improvement in these areas," he said in a statement.

Abdullah is currently in Bahrain to attend the 31st InterAction Council Annual meeting.

Najib, who succeeded Abdullah on April 3, 2009, won a new mandate when Barisan Nasional secured 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats in Sunday's general election to form the federal government.

On Monday, Najib took the oath of office as prime minister before Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah at Istana Negara, Kuala Lumpur.

Abdullah also called for national unity and reconciliation, saying that there must not be any attempt to racialise the election results by blaming any particular community as that would be unfair and unhelpful.

At the same time, he called upon the Opposition to accept and respect the election results.

"Malaysians deserve stability and certainty that can only come with finality and closure from this election. Let us move on in the interest of all Malaysians," he added. - Bernama

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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