KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said tonight there was no prior announcement as to the name of the new chief minister in Penang, unlike in Kelantan, because the situation in both states were different. The Deputy Prime Minister said in Kelantan, the voters were more focused on personality.

"The situation in both states is different. Kelantan is more focused on personality, so it's important to name a person from the outset," he said in "Bual Pilihan Raya", a live interview programme aired over TV3 Thursday night.

Najib said the matter had been discussed at length with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and they both agreed that the voters in Kelantan would want to know who would lead them. In Penang, he said, Gerakan felt that it would be better to resolve the matter after the election.

"All the three leaders (Teng Chang Yeow, Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan and Datuk Lee Kah Choon) have the potential to become Penang chief minister," he said. To a question on Chinese voters, Najib said, their future would be better assured if they continued to give the Barisan Nasional (BN) a huge mandate.

"We must convince the Chinese voters that their future is better taken care of if we can create a BN government that is strong and stable. If the government is not stable, then the world will lose confidence in us," he said.

He said in the era of globalisation, even a slight confidence problems would result in huge backlash to the economy and this would not benefit the Chinese community.

Najib also said that the Chinese should remain with the government because if the participation of Chinese parties, MCA and Gerakan, was diminishing, their voice in the government would also be weakening.

"This is certainly not good for them. On the other hand, if they give their support to MCA or Gerakan candidates, their voice will become stronger in the government," he said.

Najib said the government had taken steps to tackle the various issues concerning the community.

"For instance, in the field of education. It's no longer a sensitive issue now because we have taken steps to address the Chinese education issues," he said.

On Indian voters, Najib said, he observed that there were groups trying to fan sentiments against the government.

"The Indian voters I've met, they are not angry at the BN. They know that the BN has taken care of their interests and are aware that in anything we do, we must take into consideration the interest of all communities," he said.