PUTRAJAYA, March 29 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad said it is difficult to predict the results of the coming general
election due to the rather confusing prevailing situation.
He said various assumptions had been made about support for Barisan Nasional
(BN), with some people saying it was increasing and others saying otherwise.
"What is certain, it won''t be easy for BN to get two-thirds majority this
time. The opposition now is not like that of the past, and the current situation
is rather confusing."
He said this when asked to comment on former finance minister Tun Daim
Zainuddin''s statement that BN would easily win in only three states - Johor,
Melaka and Pahang.
On the possible difficulty for BN to get two-thirds majority in the Dewan
Rakyat as among the reasons for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak not
wanting to announce the 13th general election date yet, Dr Mahathir said he
could not read Najib''s mind.
"This may be true or may be not," he said.
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MAHATHIR-PREDICT 2 (LAST) PUTRAJAYA
Earlier, he delivered a keynote address titled, "Language - An Obstacle or
Advantage for Malay Students", at the International Seminar on Malay Education,
here, today.
"Mastering the English language does not mean one should forget the Malay
language, which is an identity for the Malay race," he said in his speech.
"The Malay language must continue to be promoted because maybe one day it
will become a language of knowledge, but the reality is that presently the
language of knowledge is the English language, so we need to master it."
Dr Mahathir said the role of language in the modern era was not only as a
racial identity, but also for that community to be an educated community.
-- BERNAMA
AYU MAI MO