Azalina calls for redoubling of efforts, focus on realising unity aspiration

KUALA LUMPUR - There is no need to point fingers, but rather, the focus should be on the redoubling of efforts to win over the rakyat based on the unity aspiration, says Umno information chief Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

She said the unity alliance managed to successfully retain the states of Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan, this time with the inclusion of Barisan Nasional (BN).

"We (Umno) would like to thank the voters who gave their support to the unity aspiration as well as trusting this alliance to form the government in the three states.

"At the same time, we will also take into account all feedback for BN to improve its performance, approach and implementation of services for the people throughout the country," he said in a statement today.

Azalina also agreed that the Unity Government should review and improve in terms of the selection of candidates, machinery, manifestos, policies and campaign agenda ahead of the 16th General Election (GE16).

She said the longer timeframe until the next polls would ensure that the alignment and understanding at the grassroots level could be effectively forged.

According to her, facing the state elections in a relatively short period of eight months since the formation of the BN-Pakatan Harapan (BN-PH) unity alliance after spending decades as political rivals was an important first test, but it was overcome well by the pact.

This, she said, was reinforced by the fact that the unity alliance managed to garner 49.58 per cent or 3,399,472 of the votes in all six states compared to Perikatan Nasional, which got 17,000 fewer votes at 3,382,455 (49.33 per cent).

Azalina added that the cooperation was made possible as the unity aspiration was formed to uphold the wishes of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to put the people and country first. - BERNAMA