By ANTARA News/PTI
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has underlined that he will stay on as prime minister, despite calls for him to step down, saying that his “mandate is still very strong”.
“The mandate that we have is still very strong by any standards even though it is not a two-thirds majority,” he was quoted as saying by the Malaysian New Straits Times newspaper.
Dismissing speculations that members of Barisan Nasional alliance could defect, the Prime Minister said that there is nothing about anyone thinking about party hopping. Abdullah said “they have requested better representation (at the federal level) and I have taken note of that and we`ll see what can be done.”
“The support is strong. They (BN components) feel insulted when people speculate that they might hop to another party,” he said, adding “they are in a very strong party and they are proud of their achievements and they want to serve their constituencies.”
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Abdullah said that issues which surfaced during the general election must be attended to as soon as possible. “It is important for us to ensure the timely implementation of tangible development projects for the benefit of the people,” he added.
Explaining the government`s plans to lift the standard of living while reducing hardcore poverty in the country, he said he would make sure that the benefits of economic growth trickle down to the people.
“The most important thing is that we have laid out our plans, we have already identified our programmes and projects to be implemented and I especially want to make sure that we will implement them for the benefit of the people,” he added.