Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today called on Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon to have talks with the state Umno to discuss the issues faced by the Malays there.

He said this was necessary in order for the two parties to talk about any immediate additional programmes to be taken by the state government to develop the Malay community in Penang.

Najib was responding to a statement by Koh, who admitted that the state government was not doing enough to help the Malays.

Koh is also the vice-president of Gerakan, a predominantly Chinese party which has been controlling the state for decades.

"It's good if Koh himself has expressed that opinion, to me it reflects his sensitivity to the demand made by Penang Umno through its Youth wing," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Let them discuss it

Last week, malaysiakini reported that Penang Umno Youth wanted the chief minister's post to be rotated among the various Barisan Nasional (BN) parties.

However, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi shot down the idea. Following this, Umno Youth chief Hishamuddin Hussein urged the Penang state government to look into the problems faced by the Malays.

Meanwhile, Najib when asked if he knew what were the problems faced by the Malays there, replied that only they would know.

"Let them discuss the issues together," said the deputy premier.

In the 2004 general elections, Umno won 14 of the 15 seats contested while Gerakan was victorious in all its 13 seats. MCA, on the other hand, took nine out of the 10 contested.

Opposition parties DAP and PAS have a single seat each in the 40-seat state assembly.

The groups behind the rotation call are hoping to push the resolution through to the Umno annual general assembly later this year.

Similar calls in the past were rejected by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.