Manifestos must tackle real issues
Focusing on the people’s immediate wants and bypassing national issues reflect the BN leadership’s lack of vision, wisdom and capabilities.
Awang Abdillah, FMT
A manifesto is a package of offers that a political party promises to deliver if chosen to be the next government.
If the party is elected, then the manifesto should become its action blueprint for the next five years.
We have seen past Barisan Nasional manifestos which made all sorts of promises, but little attention was paid to the nation’s real problems.
Take, for instance, the BN’s manifesto for the 2008 general election. It promised all kinds of goods and services but failed to win the hearts and minds of the voters and this was visible when it lost its traditional two-thirds majority and five states to Pakatan Rakyat.
Focusing on the people’s immediate wants and bypassing national issues reflect the BN leadership’s lack of vision, wisdom and capabilities.
The 2008 BN manifesto, while setting the feel-good mood among the voters, did not guarantee BN votes.
The people are now mature enough not to buy lies and stories.
Since taking over the helm of the government in 2009, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has failed to implement the plans and programmes spelt out in BN’s 2008 election manifesto.
His best shot now is to dish out instant goodies to the people to get their votes.
His government claims that the ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) and the GTP (Government Transformation Programme) are on track to propel Malaysia to becoming a high-income /developed nation by 2020.
But what have these programmes achieved in relation to the national issues?
Manifesto must include real issues
A true manifesto is one that spells out the current real national issues and measures to tackle them.
Secondly, it must be a manifesto committed to delivering the essential goods and services to all races, and thirdly, to dish out the (instant) goodies to the people subject to the funds available.
The manifesto must focus on the national issues such as the national debt, corruption, floods, security, poverty, oil royalty, development of infrastructure especially highways and roads in Sarawak and Sabah and cost of living.
If these major ills can be tackled, both Pakatan Rakyat and BN need not worry about how much goodies they dish out.
Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/04/02/manifestos-must-tackle-real-issues/
