Manifestos, which are a declaration of intent and motives, are an essential part of political parties’ campaign strategy.
Its objective is to convince the voters of the parties’ good intentions to serve for the betterment of the people.
As the 15th general election in Malaysia is around the corner, political parties are brandishing their manifestos, with the usual promises of clean, honest, and accountable government, and prosperity for all citizens, which have proven to be mostly rhetoric, based on past experiences.
Among the trite manifestos, at least by two political coalitions, namely Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan, are the offering of the deputy prime minister’s post to Sabah and Sarawak to entice them to join a coalition in the event that no one political party commands a simple majority to form the government.
Offering the deputy prime minister’s post, just to get support, is a desperate and unprofessional initiative.
Such important positions should not be trivialised and bandied about for political expediency. One should not compromise the integrity of such positions, according to one’s whims and fancies.
The deputy prime minister’s post is an important one and requires a highly qualified and experienced professional politician to helm it, to aid the prime minster who, at times, might not have the credentials befitting his position, but was placed by default.
Thus, a highly qualified and experienced deputy prime minister should be a source of succour for the prime minister.
To offer two deputy prime ministers posts, one for Sabah, and the other for Sarawak, would not be in the best interests of good governance.
It is tantamount to padding and would cause functional redundancy. Such horse-trading manifestos do not augur well for the integrity of the parties involved.
Most political parties promise in their manifestos, the usual election fare. These include a stable government through good governance, and improving the country’s economy, reducing the poverty index, reducing the cost of living, increasing the purchasing power of especially the B40 segment, increasing employment, and abolishing corruption.
Recently, BN made a glorious stand against corruption, requiring all its election candidates to take an oath to be free of the scourge.
It is almost surreal, bizarre, to the point of being a mockery, to see the frontliners and party leaders pledging not to be involved in corruption, when some have pending court cases involving graft.
There has, however, been only a cursory mention in various manifestos of flood mitigation plans, without any reference to its root cause, a major factor of which is the unbridled logging by the rich, and politically well-connected groups, as well as by the hereditary privileged class, which act with impunity.
Political parties have both a published manifesto that details their altruistic intentions, and a ‘covert’ one, just for themselves.
We have been served with these manifestos before, yet the people remain side-lined and disenfranchised, while politicians reap the official and unofficial perks of political office.
We must ensure that we are not fooled once again, and cast our votes wisely. Do not vote based on their false promises, but rather, on the candidates’ and their parties’ track record of helping the people.
We must vote in a stable government that ensures economic stability, the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and an executive that is accountable through legislative oversight and its functions circumscribed within the constitutional dictates.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
