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BARISAN Nasional will appoint an independent panel to do a post- mortem of the results of the 12th general election, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Mr Abdullah, who was earlier sworn in as Prime Minister, said the coalition admitted that what had happened in the general election was a lesson for them and a 'signal that we must pay attention to.' 'We need to translate the aspirations of the people into action,' he told reporters during a press conference yesterday after chairing an Umno supreme council meeting followed by a Barisan supreme council meeting. The Barisan chairman noted that rising costs of goods, crime and corruption were the big issues that had come up during the election. 'What we have promised must be implemented in the best possible way,' he added. Barisan won 140 parliamentary seats in the election and formed the government with a simple instead of its usual two-thirds majority. It also lost five states - Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Perak - to the Opposition. Mr Abdullah said the results showed a level of maturity among the people in practising their democratic right. He said Barisan accepted the decision and the fact that it did not get a two-thirds majority in Parliament this time. 'We acknowledge that with 140 seats, we are short of eight seats for a two-thirds majority. But it's not something we are worried about; 140 seats are a very strong majority. So this is a strong victory for Barisan which allows us to form a government that can move forward.' 'We can manage. We can be a good government. We can be a government that delivers and performs,' he said. He added that the country was also safe and that the results did not cause any chaos. On whether Barisan would accept Opposition members who wanted to cross over and help the ruling coalition make up the two-thirds majority, Mr Abdullah said: 'If people want to join us, then of course, why should we tell them not to join us?' He however added that the Government was 'not so crazy as to want two-thirds majority.' 'It will not hamper us in our work,' he added. -- The Star/ANN.
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