Najib Abdul Razak has demanded Pakatan Harapan to honour the promises contained in its manifesto for the 14th general election.
“A promise is a promise,” said the former premier, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the opposition and the people.
“It is not right and it is not justice that political parties can win power just by cheating the people.
“The rakyat should not be shortchanged and simply accept whatever excuses that the Harapan government makes up over the next five years,” he said in a Facebook post this evening.
Najib was responding to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who this afternoon, compared Harapan's manifesto to a bible.
Read more: Sometimes can, sometimes can't – manifesto not 'bible': Dr M
With regard to the manifesto, Mahathir said Harapan need not adhere to the letter of the text.
Responding to a question at a press conference in Parliament, Mahathir admitted that Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof's appointment as Dewan Rakyat speaker was not in accordance with the manifesto which stipulated that the speaker should be appointed from among MPs.
"(Yes), but for certain reasons, we cannot adhere to the actual manifesto. Please remember that the manifesto is not a bible, it is a guidance.
"Sometimes we can do things, but sometimes we find that we cannot, so we have to be practical-minded," he said.
However, Najib said BN did not consider its manifesto as such and had devoted time and effort to ensure that it contained only promises which could be delivered.
“We planned our BN manifesto for GE14 very carefully, did our numbers and we revisited it over many rounds as I had intended to deliver each and every promise.
“Perhaps we were too careful to only promise whatever we can deliver?
“Would I have done differently? No,” he added.