MELAKA: The first day of campaigning for the 16th Melaka election was relatively calmer than previous elections, says Melaka Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh.
He attributed this to BN’s early efforts to engage with the people, rather than limiting its outreach to the 14-day campaign period.
“We have started our work earlier so that the people are not only given attention during elections, particularly throughout the 14-day campaign period.
“Therefore, we must regard the position of an elected representative as a trust to serve the people, not for the people to serve us,” he said.
He was speaking during a visit to the BN operations room for the Telok Mas state constituency here today.
Ab Rauf said the Wakil Rakyat Untuk Rakyat (WRUR) programme had resolved about 75 per cent of the 4,800 complaints received.
He said he had also stressed the importance of BN candidates understanding the people’s needs before being elected as their representatives.
“Among the things I emphasised in my vision for selecting candidates to become elected representatives is that they must first be part of the people.
“They need to understand the people’s problems and needs, listen to their views and convey them to me so that the government can formulate appropriate policies in the future.
“Through the WRUR programme, we successfully identified 1,001 problems and resolved about 75 per cent of the 4,800 complaints received, based on the people’s needs,” he said.
Commenting further, Ab Rauf said the calm campaign atmosphere should not be marred by what he described as the politics of hatred played by his opponents.
Instead, Melaka BN would continue using the campaign period to engage with voters and explain the state government’s achievements.
“Let others do that. We will focus on talking about what we have implemented for the people and the benefits they have received throughout our five years administering the state,” he said.