Najib Wants BN Elected Reps To Examine Their Own Performance. This Is Asking For The Impossible.

You can teach a dog, a monkey or even a mule new tricks. But to advise these animals to review the quality of their performance is to ask for the sky. The same principle applies to the elected representatives inhabiting the various zoos currently controlled by Barisan Nasional.

Najib however thinks much of these specimens when according to Bernama, he advised BN elected representatives to examine their own performance so as to strengthen the people's support for and confidence in the ruling coalition while asking them to improve their performance should there be shortcomings. Displaying a certain amount of deluded thinking, the DPM said "we must excel and champion the people's cause in our constituencies, just like how we champion their cause in parliament." In Parliament!! BN MPs have by and large been making asses of themselves in that august house and I can't imagine where Najib got the idea that his MPs are championing anything other than their own welfare and those of their families and cronies.

He said the elected representatives were actually helping themselves as well as the BN if they provided excellent service to the people. Najib advised BN elected representatives not to wait for by-elections or general elections to come by before helping the people to resolve their problems. He said the voters always complained when elected representatives wanted to resolve their problems only during elections.

Elected representatives, he said, should return to the basics by offering their services to all the people if they wanted to retain the support of all groups in the community. "Voters want access to elected representatives and our service. Even if they cannot have everything that they want, they would be satisfied if they are able to at least meet their elected representatives," he said.

Najib said elected representatives could not just be the representative of their own ethnic community, adding: "Do not be unjust to all when we need the support of all, and that is fundamental point," he said.

He said the main thing the BN had learned from the last five by-elections -- in Kuala Berang, Pengkalan Pasir, Batu Talam, Machap and Ijok -- was that elected representatives must discharge their responsibility with excellence. "The better our performance is today, the brighter are our chances of getting re-elected," he said.

Najib said that repeating the BN's massive victory of the last general election in the next election was a major challenge for its elected representatives.

***** With the present bunch of elected reps and the dismal standards of performance they have exhibited, I hold no hope for Najib's advice having any impact. Only a complete overhaul of selection methods and the removal of at least 90% of the current rubbish passing off as lawmakers can make a difference, both for the benefit of the thus far badly neglected citizens as well as for the quality of the horrendous state of parliamentary debates.
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