MALACCA folk should vote Barisan Nasional (BN) in the upcoming state elections to ensure a stable government and revive the trust of investors, BN elections director Mohamad Hasan said. 
 
Mohamad, fondly known as Tok Mat, said that investors want a government that is formed by a party or coalition that is stable and has the experience and track record to lead a nation or a state. 
 
“The most important factor is the party. The core party here is Umno and (as a part of) BN, they have a long experience in governing the country. 
 
“When this party gets a good mandate from the people (in the coming elections) and forms a government with a good majority, then we will achieve stability. 
 
“When we achieve stability, people will see Malacca as a stable state. Politically stable. So investors will come,” the Umno deputy president said in a programme titled Premier Discussion with BN’s Malacca chief ministerial candidate Sulaiman Md Ali.

Calling Malaysia a “darling for foreign investors”, Tok Mat took aim at Pakatan Harapan’s 22-month reign as the federal government and also the Malacca state government, saying their uncertainty in direction and their inability to resolve the prime ministerial issue broke investors’ trust and led them to invest in other neighbouring countries. 
 
“Who wants to invest in an unstable country or state? People will be scared if they put their capital there, fearing it will be lost. But if the country is stable, investors will not hesitate to invest.

“For 22 months when PH governed this country, they were uncertain of their  direction. From the first day, they were talking about replacing the prime minister until in the end, they broke up.
 
Mohamad said that at one time, Malaysia was the “darling of foreign direct investments”.
 
He said investors came and invested because it was stable.
 
Sulaiman also took a swipe at PH, claiming they only brought in an investment of RM350 million to Malacca when they were the state government. 
 
He said that in contrast, he managed to strike a deal worth RM3.2 billion within months of taking charge as the chief minister. 
 
“During the 22 months of PH’s reign, I was the opposition. I can say that only RM350 million were brought in as investment. Why? Because the investors saw that Malacca was ruled by an unstable government and those who were in power had no track record in managing and administering. 
 
“But when the government was returned to us, I took charge on March 9 (2020) and by December 31, we struck an investment deal of RM3.2 billion. 
 
“This was during the Covid-19 epidemic when international borders were closed and inter-district travel was impossible. Yet, we brought in a RM3.2 billion deal in the manufacturing sector,” Sulaiman said. 
 
Malacca will go to the polls on Saturday. PH won the state in the last general election but the state government collapsed following defections that allowed an Umno-led government to take over.

However, that state government was also ousted after four assemblymen, including two from Umno, pulled their support for chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali. – November 17, 2021.