TASEK PAUH blogspot

He said it created an environment of political uncertainty among the component parties.

"I feel a solution needs to be found between both the parties concerned in order to calm the situation," the deputy prime minister told reporters after receiving donations worth RM33,000 from the Defence Ministry staff and the armed forces for the National Disaster Fund.

Najib said the on-going bickering will affect BN's image and a proper solution had to be found as soon as possible.

Asked to comment on his remark on Monday that the National Service Training Programme could be extended from three months to two years, he said no decision had been made yet as this was just a proposal made by a Malaysian student during his recent visit to South Korea.

In response to Malaysia being seen to be more corrupt this year in an annual survey by Hongkong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, Najib said there were many corruption surveys in the market and the findings boiled down to a problem of perception.

"The government is working hard to reduce the level of corruption in the country. Many efforts have been taken and will continue to be taken," he added.

In the findings released on Tuesday, Malaysia ranked seventh with a score of 6.25 (zero is the best score and 10 the worst) in the poll of 1,476 expatriate business executives in 13 countries and territories.

Asked to comment on speculations, including on the Internet, that he was having differences with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he said: "If you listen to the Internet, you will go mad." sun2surf