KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's ruling government, ahead of elections to take place before April next year, appears to be in full campaign mode. Prime Minister Najib Razak on Sunday said that his party welcomed change, “but change that was well-structured, organized and systematic and not disorganized and chaotic.” His comments come as the government continues to talk politics and election strategy. The PM must call for elections before next year's April deadline, and political groups in the country have lashed out at the ruling party for its apparent pre-election campaigning. “We are seeing a lot of talk that is directly aimed at the elections and while that is the government's right, it is frustrating that they are doing this now without a date for elections being stated,” an opposition coalition leader told Bikyamasr.com on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur. The opposition has been pushing the idea of change in its attempts to dethrone the ruling party from the country, which has ruled Malaysia since independence. But the government has been quick to fight back. “We want change that can bring a real change and real progress, not one that is disorganised and chaotic,” the PM said at a ground-breaking for Sarawak's latest university, the Sarawak University College of Technology, at Old Airport Road. Razak said there were people who preached about bringing change to the country with the next general election. “Solely for the sake of winning votes, they will promise the people the sun, the moon and even the entire galaxy system. “But, it is the Barisan Nasional government that has done so much in bringing about change, and even folks in our rural areas are enjoying the good change. “We will do more for the future because it is a long-term process and cannot be done in a jiffy. We will deliver what we have promised,” he said. The PM added the government did not need “any newcomer or any Johnny-come-lately to bring about change in the country.” He said that in Sarawak, for instance, the BN government had done very well because it had a real partnership between the federal and state levels. “Our partnership works because we come from the same family and this will ensure our success. “We want more development and ‘penglikun' (security, in Iban) for a more comfortable and better life for the people,” he said. Touching on development in the field of education, he said the federal government had never rejected any request from the state government to set up more universities and institutions of higher learning. “When I was the education minister, I approved requests from Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and his government to establish the Curtin University branch campus in Miri and then the Swinburne (University of Technology, Sarawak) in Kuching. “Now, my successor Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin is giving the government approval for the setting up of this Sarawak University College of Technology,” he said.
