Umno General Assembly: Time to deliver on promises, says Sabah speaker

(The Star) – Both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are guilty of not honouring all of their election promises, but delivering on these promises is the only way a party can gain the confidence of voters, said Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak.

“The truth is not all these promises can be honoured because some of the promises made are impossible to achieve. They were made just to make the manifesto look impressive,” said the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Speaker in a blog post today.

“Some of these promises can be delivered. But it requires great political will to deliver them. And not all will be popular with the voters or with the grassroots supporters of the political parties,” he said.

With the upcoming Umno General Assembly, Salleh urged for members to focus on Barisan National’s election manifesto that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak presented on 6th April 2013.

“Umno should do a post mortem on how much of these promises have been delivered and how much more needs to be done and how it can be achieved,” said Salleh, who served as Sabah’s ninth Chief Minister from 1994 to 1996.

Salleh said that the party will need to impress voters as to how much of its promises have been delivered and whether promises the party makes in the next general election can be taken with any credibility.

He said that Umno delegates should be looking through the entire list of promises it made last April and dissecting what have been achieved so far.

“This is what the Umno delegates should be analysing and debating on in the General Assembly next weekend,” said Salleh.

“The confidence of the voters in how Barisan Nasional keeps its promises would be one way the coalition could continue getting the support of the voters.

“There is no other way that Barisan Nasional can convince the voters that the coalition is worth voting for,” he said.

The Umno General Assembly 2014 will be held at the Putra World Trade Centre from Nov 25 to 29.