Najib ready for talks with Pakatan
Rahmah GhazaliPublished: May 14, 2009 3:52 AM | Updated: May 15, 2009 2:20 AM
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today said he was willing to hold talks with Pakatan Rakyat to resolve the on-going Perak crisis but he had set a number of conditions.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today said he was willing to hold talks with Pakatan Rakyat to resolve the on-going Perak crisis but he had set a number of conditions.
"There should not be pre-conditions as it (the meeting) should be quite open in order (for us) to explore (all) possibilities," he told journalists in Putrajaya.
"I have said the number one principle must be mutual respect for one another. Number two, we have to follow rules and regulations inside the Dewan and outside the Dewan," he added.
Should the talks go ahead, it would perhaps be Najib's first meeting with Pakatan leader Anwar Ibrahim since the former deputy premier was sacked and expelled from ruling party Umno.
The prime minister also rejected claims that Barisan Nasional was "afraid" to fight a snap state polls as demanded by Pakatan.
"BN is not afraid. If we have to face the rakyat and we will face the rakyat. We have faced the rakyat many times," he said.
Dissolution is up to the sultan
He was asked to respond to calls made by BN leaders that the solution to the Perak political impasse was by holding a state election.
Najib said it would be up to the Perak sultan to do so but did not say whether BN would advise him to dissolve the assembly.
"That is one of the options but under the constitution, it is something that does not have to happen. It depends on the sultan to consider," he said.
He also quelled fears that the Perak crisis will eventually lead to a political stand-off like the situation in neighbouring Thailand.
Perak has been in turmoil since February with both BN and Pakatan battling it out to rule the state.
The defections of three Pakatan elected representatives to become BN-friendly independents resulted in the Perak sultan calling on Pakatan's Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to step down as the menteri besar.
The sultan then appointed BN's Zambry Abd Kadir to the post.
However on Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had ruled that Nizar was the legitimate MB.
Zambry had since obtained a stay order against the decision pending his appeal while Nizar had yesterday filed an application to set aside the court order. Nizar's application will be heard next Monday.
Promotions for support group
On another matter, Najib also confirmed that the BN convention will be put back to a later date as a number of issues needed to be ironed out.
"We wouldn't want to hold a convention without substance. The outcome is much more important," he said.
In an unrelated development, Najib announced that officers who have served 15 years or more in the civil service support group but still in appointment grade will be considered for promotion to higher grades starting July 1.
The announcement which was made during the Public Sector Workers Day celebrations, also stated that several service schemes would be upgraded from the same date.
He said the move was in appreciation of the contributions of the 176,066 officers in the support group.
In addition to this, two new schemes for food preparation officers and marine assistants will be established together with the upgrade of eight service schemes including those for date processing machine operators, junior administrative assistants and guards.
This decision, which involves 20,637 personnel, would cost the government an additional RM170.4 million.
"There should not be pre-conditions as it (the meeting) should be quite open in order (for us) to explore (all) possibilities," he told journalists in Putrajaya."I have said the number one principle must be mutual respect for one another. Number two, we have to follow rules and regulations inside the Dewan and outside the Dewan," he added.
Should the talks go ahead, it would perhaps be Najib's first meeting with Pakatan leader Anwar Ibrahim since the former deputy premier was sacked and expelled from ruling party Umno.
The prime minister also rejected claims that Barisan Nasional was "afraid" to fight a snap state polls as demanded by Pakatan.
"BN is not afraid. If we have to face the rakyat and we will face the rakyat. We have faced the rakyat many times," he said.
Dissolution is up to the sultan
He was asked to respond to calls made by BN leaders that the solution to the Perak political impasse was by holding a state election.
Najib said it would be up to the Perak sultan to do so but did not say whether BN would advise him to dissolve the assembly.
"That is one of the options but under the constitution, it is something that does not have to happen. It depends on the sultan to consider," he said.
He also quelled fears that the Perak crisis will eventually lead to a political stand-off like the situation in neighbouring Thailand.Perak has been in turmoil since February with both BN and Pakatan battling it out to rule the state.
The defections of three Pakatan elected representatives to become BN-friendly independents resulted in the Perak sultan calling on Pakatan's Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to step down as the menteri besar.
The sultan then appointed BN's Zambry Abd Kadir to the post.
However on Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had ruled that Nizar was the legitimate MB.
Zambry had since obtained a stay order against the decision pending his appeal while Nizar had yesterday filed an application to set aside the court order. Nizar's application will be heard next Monday.
Promotions for support group
On another matter, Najib also confirmed that the BN convention will be put back to a later date as a number of issues needed to be ironed out.
"We wouldn't want to hold a convention without substance. The outcome is much more important," he said.
In an unrelated development, Najib announced that officers who have served 15 years or more in the civil service support group but still in appointment grade will be considered for promotion to higher grades starting July 1.
The announcement which was made during the Public Sector Workers Day celebrations, also stated that several service schemes would be upgraded from the same date.
He said the move was in appreciation of the contributions of the 176,066 officers in the support group.
In addition to this, two new schemes for food preparation officers and marine assistants will be established together with the upgrade of eight service schemes including those for date processing machine operators, junior administrative assistants and guards.
This decision, which involves 20,637 personnel, would cost the government an additional RM170.4 million.
View Comments0