I Have Never Wavered In My Commitment To Deliver Real Change Across All Fronts - M'sian PM

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- Najib Tun Razak said that since becoming Malaysian Prime Minister three years ago, he has never wavered in his commitment to deliver real change across all fronts, with lasting prosperity, security and democracy for all Malaysians regardless of race or religion. Najib said to that end he had worked to transform Malaysia's economy to make it fit for the challenges of the 21st century, increasing competitiveness, raising incomes and cutting unemployment along the way. He stressed that he had repealed oppressive colonial-era legislation and replaced it with modern, progressive laws that protect both the lives and rights of all Malaysians. The Prime Minister also said that he had listened to calls for greater transparency in elections, establishing a bipartisan commission to look at the voting process and introduce measures such as the use of indelible ink to reduce the possibility of fraud at the polls. "In the half-century since independence, we have found that steady reform is the best way to secure lasting stability. It is a process that continues in Malaysia to this day," Najib said in the Opinion Asia column written by him entitled "The Asean Way Won Burma Over" in The Wall Street Journal, published Wednesday. Najib said that as the leader of Malaysia, Southeast Asia's oldest democracy, he was always keen to share these experiences. "It is a process of evolution rather than revolution, and that process can best be supported and encouraged by a tight-knit family of nations working together to help each other," he said. Najib said that was why, at this week's Asean summit which concluded today in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the leaders of the 10-member regional grouping would put the final touches on a declaration entitled One Community, One Destiny. "It is a very real acknowledgement that our future lies in closer, warmer relations, speaking with one voice and with one goal in mind, the continued development of our economies, our societies and above all our democracies. It is, in short, a very Asian, very Asean approach," he said. -- BERNAMA