As tens of thousands gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the past two days to call for his resignation, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has vowed not to bow to pressure.
During his Merdeka Day address at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today, Najib said he, his new cabinet and BN would continue driving Malaysia forward.
He said his team has the mandate of the people following the 13th general election.
"I would like to repeat... Once the sails have been set, once the anchor has been raised, the captain and his crew would never change course," he said.
Since yesterday, protesters had been convening near Dataran Merdeka to call for Najib's resignation over his handling of the 1MDB issue and the RM2.6 billion donation.
Although the police declared the event illegal, it was allowed to proceed unhindered.
'Immature and shallow'
Earlier in his speech, Najib took potshots at Bersih 4, describing the protesters as "immature" and warned of "traitors" who would ruin the nation.
The prime minister said street demonstrations must be rejected because they posed a threat to public order and caused inconvenience.
"Because of this, it does not reflect maturity. In fact, it is not the right channel to express oneself in a democratic country.
"As we all know, what has happened over the past two days is very inappropriate. It shows a shallow mentality and poor sense of nationalism.
"Even the Kelantan mufti stated that street demonstrations and Bersih 4 are haram in terms of Islam," he added.
Beware of traitors
Najib said it was a shame that on the eve of Merdeka Day, a "small group" was trying to cause friction in the country and "fan the flames of animosity".
"Indeed... We would never allow anyone from within or from outside to simply walk in and steal, ruin or destroy all that we have built so far," he stressed.
Najib said Malaysia is a fortunate country shared by 30 million people of all ethnicity.
"I stand here before you and I am speaking as a proud Malaysian citizen. I want to stress that our country belongs to all of us.
"And we would not allow anyone to be an instigator and traitor, and destroy (our country)," he added.
