Did we really vote PH in because of its manifesto?

The winds of change had been blowing for quite a while. No one really needed to use the manifesto as a reason to change when the polls were opened.

Clement Stanley, Free Malaysia Today

What is it that people want from the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, and are demanding that they get, day in and day out?

The obvious answer would be to just deliver what was promised in the election manifesto and to get on with serious work. The honeymoon period has a sell-by date.

The truth, whether we like it or not, is it is more than difficult to deliver what was promised under the present circumstances. The public is well aware of this. It’s time we faced the truth: it is going to take some time before results are seen. There is no magic wand. There never was one.

And if anyone should ask why then promise if you were not sure about delivering, it’s up to that individual to be truthful with himself or herself with the question – was the PH manifesto the main reason you voted Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PH into government, or was it a case of wanting to see the exit of Najib Razak and the Barisan Nasional (BN) government?

Some will say it is both. But if it was a case of “enough is enough”, then the manifesto would not have been the main reason why you voted for Mahathir and PH. It would only have been a part of the reason, nothing more.

Today, we witness various NGOs and organisations making demand after demand from the PH government, saying what was promised in the manifesto isn’t being fulfilled. Examples include the minimum wage guarantee and the repayment of PTPTN loans.

From Sabah and Sarawak, there are questions being raised about equal partnership in accordance with MA63 and the promise of a 20% return of oil revenue based on output, all of which were contained in the manifesto.

Some say that Mahathir and his PH government should have thought about this before making any promises. They do have a valid point. The PH government, it would appear, has to bear the consequences of broken promises and address the situation regardless of whether it thought it could win GE14 or not.

No doubt this would be the crux of the matter IF the manifesto took precedence over seeing the back of Najib and the BN government when the people went to the polls in May.

But was this the case? It is no secret that the priority was the latter. The winds of change had been blowing for quite a while. No one really needed to use the manifesto as a reason to change when the polls were opened.

It was the choice of voters to remove Najib and his government. The agenda couldn’t have been more clear. The old regime had to go at all costs.

And now, there is this clamouring and insistence that what was promised in the PH manifesto must be honoured. It wasn’t there before. It is now. And it came only after the main objective of removing the previous administration was achieved.

By now, it is a known fact that not everything set out in the PH manifesto is achievable. It requires time. This has been acknowledged by none other than the prime minister himself.

So what choice do we have now? There is only one.

If you are unhappy with the PH government for whatever reason, show it the way out in GE15 as you did with the previous administration. No one will stop you from voting for the party of your choice, be it a new kid on the block or the now considerably weakened BN.

You hold the power in your hands. Put it to work.