He said if the people were deceived by the opposition’s propaganda, the country’s future would be gravely affected when the wrong choice was made during the election.
“In a dynamic political environment people are exposed to changes and they may make their decisions based on inaccurate information. The vulnerability of the people can adversely affect the government.
“We see this happening not only in our country but also in developed countries, for example when the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union.
“The decision was made based on the Brexit campaigns that were supported by false and misleading information that eventually changed the history of the United Kingdom. The people are now remorseful over their decision but nothing can be done about it,” he said.
Najib, who is also Pekan MP, said this when opening Pekan Umno’s simultaneous divisional and wings’ delegates meetings here today.
He said during GE13, the opposition spread false news including on the Lynas rare earth plant in Gebeng (near Kuantan) and the presence of 40,000 Bangladeshi phantom voters with the intention to intimidate voters and influence them to hate the government.
“We see that most of the news spread by the opposition is not based on real facts as some was churned out to confuse and anger the people.
“The Lynas plant was a hot topic before GE13 and the opposition claimed it was a harmful nuclear plant as residents there would be exposed to high levels of radiation,” he said.
“It’s been five years … the opposition is no longer harping on the issue as the general election is over,” he said, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had confirmed that radiation levels at the plant itself was much lower than that of Kuantan town.
He said he hoped the people would not be influenced by the opposition’s propaganda against the government that had increased of late purely for their political agenda.
“Do not be swayed by their claims purportedly that if Umno and Barisan Nasional are defeated, things will get better, when they (themselves) are not united on many things.
“Their symbols and manifestos are almost the same but how can they succeed if they are not fighting for the same cause? I do not think they will succeed as they are just trying to topple BN and Umno.
Meanwhile, Najib urged Umno members and leaders to continue to adhere to the Islamic concept of wala’ or loyalty to the leader for the sake of the party’s integrity and unity in facing the general election.
“We must understand that as a political party a relationship exists between a leader and his members. In the Umno assembly last year, I described at length the concept of loyalty to the leader or wala’.
“If we have a relationship of loyalty and obedience, our party will be stronger but if we always harbour doubts about the party’s decisions more so if the decision is not in our favour, we will find ways to dispute it or worse we may become wolves in sheep’s clothing.
“As such, we hope that when the GE approaches, there will be no members going against the party because the party is our hope … if we fall, it will be difficult to regain our strength.
“Let us go back to the concept of wala’ or loyalty as it is meaningful to us all,” he said.