BN only sees blue skies
(MMO) – “We promise to be good, and we will share the love”
That’s probably the gist of Barisan Nasional’s manifesto for the upcoming elections, which is long on general intentions and short on actual deliveries, or at least measuring them. So in the end, they can be achieved in parts and boasted in full.
Precious little has changed in the way they promise.
For example, the pledge to move all parties to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement through consensus.
Set up to help BN Sabah and Sarawak campaign on the sore subject of lost protections and benefits, but remains minimalist in its ambition, therefore not upsetting the centralists inside the coalition who prefer the assimilation of Borneo rather than submitting to autonomy demands. Which is why as it lacks exactness, it can be read as and how any party wants to.
Which defeats a core purpose.
Promises have to be difficult, otherwise what is the point of endeavouring them? Promises upset some groups, because there is opportunity cost. A fund for this group reduces resources for another group, such is the nature of resource allocation.
When they are a series of benefits with no boldness to articulate what is sacrificed to realise the former. If there is no way to tell who is losing out, it ends up as a middling proposition.
While their critique of Pakatan Harapan’s “throwing goodies” now appears hypocritical, there is no hiding that as far as manifestos go in the country, it is about giving and not about leading.
