Win or lose the 14th general election (GE14), Pakatan will keep to its manifesto pledges
Five pillars:
- Reduce people’s burden
- Strengthen government institutions
- Deliver fair economic growth that will be felt by all
- Decentralise powers for Sabah and Sarawak
- Bring back glory days of Malaysia
Some highlights:
- Scrap GST
- Improve workers’ salaries, education
- Impose two-term limit for PM, CM, MB
- Implement Maqasid Shariah, higher goals of Shariah
Pakatan Harapan (PH) yesterday gave a preview of its manifesto for GE14, which will be launched tonight at the Ideal Convention Centre in Shah Alam.
The 200-paged manifesto will be driven by five pillars containing 60 pledges, including scrapping the goods and services tax (GST).
Ten of the pledges will be implemented within 100 days of PH taking over Putrajaya, said PH chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah.
He said the manifesto, which took the coalition 15 months to complete, is practical, not populist.
The final team involved in drafting it includes DAP MP Ong Kian Ming, Parti Keadilan Rakyat strategy director Sim Tze Tzin, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) strategic director Dzulkefly Ahmad, and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia strategist Rais Hussin.
PKR’s Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin outlined the five main pillars, with their details to be revealed later today.
The first two pillars are to focus on reducing the people’s burden and strengthening government institutions.
Sim said these institutions have been abused by the government. “Due to that, people are losing confidence in our constitution. That is why it is crucial to strengthen them.”
The third pillar is to focus on people’s economy. Explaining this, he said PH is promising fair economic growth that will be felt by all.
The fourth and fifth pillars are to decentralise powers for Sabah and Sarawak, and bring back the glory days of Malaysia.
Sim said Malaysia is a promising country. “We have diversity. It is important for us to have inclusiveness and a moderate Malaysia.”
He said the manifesto will also touch on workers’ salaries which have almost stagnated.
“When I was a graduate engineer, my salary was RM2,000 a month. Now they get RM2,500, only an increase of RM500.”
He said the situation was similar for factory workers, whose wages used to be RM800 and was now RM1,100.
“Wages have been suppressed. Why? Because of too many foreign workers slowing down the country’s move to automation.”
Saifuddin, who was a deputy higher education minister previously, said the manifesto will include improving education.
It will also include a two-term limit for the prime minister, chief ministers and menteri besar.
This policy will be implemented in states governed by PH in the event it fails to capture Putrajaya.
When asked about the expected criticism to follow with the launch of the manifesto, Saifuddin said the party had thought through the planning to make it practical and inclusive.
“There were some populist moves, but we know we cannot do it, so we did not include it in the manifesto. We are responsible.
“There are some where it may seem hard to execute, but because it was in the Malaysia Agreement 1963, so we had incorporated that in.
“And there are also some policies that people thought would have been impossible, but we had shown it to be a success in Selangor and Penang, so we put that in for other states as well with some adjustments,” he said.
Saifuddin said the philosophy behind the manifesto was very clear, which includes the implementation of the Maqasid Shariah (objectives of Islamic law), good governance and rule of law.
Amanah’s stategy director Dzulkefly Ahmad, during the press conference, revealed that page 10 of the manifesto will include PH’s higher goals of shariah.
“Our stand in the manifesto is to include progress and the total wellbeing of the citizens.
“The manifesto also contains a diagnosis of the problems facing the nation.”
According to Saifuddin, PH will try to fulfil all of its general election pledges even if it does not capture Putrajaya in GE14.
“We will implement them across the board,” he said.