Improving the economy will help Umno regain rakyat's trust, says Johari

KUALA LUMPUR: Improving the country’s economy will allow Barisan Nasional to regain the rakyat’s trust before the 16th General Election, says Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.

He said since the downfall of Barisan, the economic situation had been showing a declining trend.

The former Finance Minister II said that the worsening of the economy could be seen through the depreciation of the ringgit and the drop of the nation's fiscal rating.

"I want Umno, which is currently with Pakatan Harapan (under the unity government), to bring changes so that we can gain members’ confidence ahead of the next general election in 2027.

"Therefore, let us all give our support to all five of our ministers in the Cabinet now.

"I’m confident with Barisan’s participation in the unity government, we will be able to improve our nation’s economy before the general election in 2027," Johari said during his winding-up speech at the Umno General Assembly here on Saturday (June 10).

He added Malaysia’s gross domestic product had shrunk while the national debt had increased to RM1 trillion compared with RM686bil when Barisan was in power.

The Titiwangsa MP also said Umno should announce its election candidates in advance so that the party could prepare its machinery earlier.

He added by revealing the candidates earlier, they could be monitored ahead of the general election.

"We need to do annual reviews on the candidates and if they don’t perform well, we can replace them with other candidates," he said.