By Shannon Teoh
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared today his Barisan Nasional (BN) will target to take back all states lost in the last general election as he heads into the final year of his current mandate.
The prime minister said in a speech in Malacca that “we will beat our rivals, let them go back with zero.”
“The Euro 2012 tournament would not see scores like I aspire for Barisan in the 13th general election,” the BN chief was quoted as saying by The Star, referring to the ongoing European football championships.
“But I’m confident we would emerge with a 14-0 victory, zero for the opposition,” he said of federal polls that must be held across the 13 states as well as the federal territories within the year.
The Umno president also called on the ruling coalition’s rank and file to show the spirit shown by footballers in the ongoing Euro 2012.
BN suffered its worst ever electoral performance in Election 2008, ceding 82 federal seats and five states.
Najib took over the reins a year later, ostensibly to improve on the result, with observers saying only a return to the coalition’s customary two-thirds majority would guarantee he remains in power.
His popularity surged to 69 per cent earlier this year following his administration’s RM500 cash handout to all families earning RM3,000 per month or less.
But clashes between police and protestors at the April 28 Bersih rally for free and fair elections saw his approval slipping to 65 per cent and a slowing economy may further dent BN’s hopes.