PUTRAJAYA, May 10 ― Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that the assessment of whether or not all his policies and transformation programmes succeeded in making Malaysia a developed country in 2020 should not be done now, but at the end of his tenure.

The prime minister said this was because the implementation of the policies and programmes to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation needs time to bear fruits.

As such, he called on the people to give time for the policies and programmes to be implemented as planned and not to take action that could jeopardise the whole plan.

Najib said this when asked to comment on the criticisms that his government did not have a clear direction after winning the 13th general election.

His critics also claimed that his policies, which he introduced after taking over the country’s administration from the then Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi a year after the 2008 general election, and transformation programmes, which he announced four years ago, had yet to bear fruits.

“I assumed the leadership of the country in 2009. My pledge to the people then was to make the country a developed nation in 2020.

“We are just at 2014. Give me the time to prove that I can achieve what I had pledged to the people,” he said during the ‘Ruang Bicara Khas’ talkshow, a production of BernamaTV aired on Astro Channel 502 tonight.

The prime minister was interviewed for an hour at the Prime Minister’s Office by Bernama Editor-in-Chief Datuk Zulkefli Salleh, BernamaTV Chief Executive Officer Datuk Ibrahim Yahaya and Bernama Assistant Editor Jamaluddin Muhammad in conjunction with Umno’s 68th anniversary on May 11.

Najib said with so many positive signs, much more remained to be done over the next six years to truly achieve the objectives of Vision 2020.

The country had achieved a most satisfactory growth rate of 4.7 per cent despite being in a situation of economic uncertainty, he said, while expressing hope for a positive growth this year.

On the question that his administration seemed to have introduced many policies and programmes only in his first term, but not in the second, Najib said: “I have said that it goes on until 2020. Don’t tell me that in 2014, I should announce that Vision 2020 is no more.

“With the commitment and support given to me in this second term, I will continue until Vision 2020 is achieved, until our desire to be a developed nation becomes a reality. Only after 2020 will we have a new vision in place.

 “A vision stretches over a long period. Don’t tell me, we must replace the vision with a new one in just four years. That is an irrational consideration,” he said.

Najib’s administration introduced the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) in 2009 with seven national key result areas (NKRA) as the pillars, namely reducing crime, fighting corruption, improving student outcome, raising living standards of low-income households, improving rural basic infrastructure, improving urban public transport and addressing the rising cost of living, under the concept of 1 Malaysia: People First, Performance Now.

Meanwhile, the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) was introduced in 2010 with focus on 12 national key economic areas (NKEA) to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy with an increased per capita income of over RM48,000 in 2020 from only RM23,700 in 2009.

Najib also introduced programmes towards creating a healthy investment climate to ease business transactions in the country. Besides, Najib’s administration also made several political and social transformation, including the abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and allowing peaceful gathering.

He stressed that the government was firm on its decision to abolish ISA based on the majority opinion, not the demand from certain quarters representing the minority.

Differences of opinion were prominently visible in line with the rapid development of information technology during his administration, but Najib said an individual would not be simply arrested just because his or her opinion differed from the government’s.

Najib who also active in Facebook and Twitter said he could accept rational and civilised criticism from the public.

“If they talk nonsense, condemn, insult, I consider them to be from the lunatic fringe or people who are ill-mannered or irrational,” he said.

The prime minister also dismissed the perception that his patience, openness and liberalism as his weaknesses. “No ... no. I do not regard that as a weakness. I would like to ask, do they want a situation where anyone who expresses an opinion is arrested under the ISA (Internal Security Act)? Do we want that? Surely, the majority of Malaysians do not want such a situation,” he said.

In his administration, where the BN does not have a two-third majority in Parliament; facing the era of openness; a diversity of views; the challenge of moving the country towards developed nation status; Najib said the majority of seats secured by his government in the last general election was sufficient for them to administer the country.

“So long as we are not trapped by that mental block, I believe with the majority that we have we can administer our country because the only thing we cannot do is amend the constitution,” he said.

Najib said the government had also proved that all its policies and laws could be approved by Parliament with a comfortable majority.

“The integrity of our administration is not undermined. We can carry on with our administration smoothly. That (two-third factor) is merely a mental block. So, I hope we will all focus on the work to develop our country,” he said.

During the interview, Najib, who is also Umno president and BN chairman, also touched on Umno’s transformation, challenges in strengthening the BN component party, economic rationalisation, implementation of Goods and Services Tax and Malaysia’s relations with powerful countries. ― Bernama