YOURSAY | 'Harapan manifestos will be hard to believe in future elections.'
COMMENT | When manifestos stop mattering
Salvage Malaysia: Charles Santiago, why is it so hard for Pakatan Harapan leaders to see that their star is fading fast?
1. Harapan keeps thumping its chest about the economic improvements it claims to have brought to Malaysia. Statistically, that may be true - the ringgit has strengthened significantly.
The problem: Does the rakyat feel and enjoy the benefits? No. The gains do not trickle down.
2. If the ringgit has strengthened so much, why do prices of goods remain so high?
3. With the ringgit up and global oil prices down, are airfares coming down? No. They only go up - again and again.
4. What is the rakyat’s perception of the MACC, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), and the police after nearly three years under the Madani administration?
5. Harapan should republish the Kita Boleh manifesto booklet and show the rakyat how many promises have actually been fulfilled. Yes, the excuse now is that this is a unity government, not a Harapan government. Do you think the rakyat cares about excuses?
6. This may be the most anti-business government Malaysia has ever had - endless paperwork, compliance requirements, fines, summonses, Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB) investigations, and new taxes. Small businesses are forced to pay consultants just to survive this regulatory maze. Many small and medium enterprise owners want to sell their businesses or give up altogether if they have the option.
These are the real-life issues that make people detest this government. As the saying goes, losing a seat is acceptable; losing trust is a calamity. Yet we still have a prime minister who thinks he is the best Malaysia has ever had.
Milshah: First, it must be stated clearly that Harapan did not win the 15th general election outright. All Harapan manifestos and promises were made on the condition that Harapan formed the government based on its own electoral mandate. That did not happen.
What we have today is not a Harapan government, but a coalition government, which includes Umno - a party that sits on the opposite end of the political spectrum from DAP.
Umno and DAP are like fire and water, east and west -fundamentally incompatible. They can coexist tactically, but they cannot truly align. At the time, many were celebrating, saying Umno had saved the country from PAS, praising Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and embracing Umno as an ally. I was sceptical then, and what I feared is now playing out.
DAP and Umno cannot mix. They may be sharing the same bed, but they clearly have different dreams and priorities.
Anwar Ibrahim, therefore, is not a Harapan prime minister. He is a unity government prime minister, and as such, he is not obligated to fully implement Harapan's promises. If Harapan wins the GE16 outright, then there will be a strong argument to demand full implementation of the Harapan manifesto. Until then, Harapan’s promises will have to wait until the coalition secures its own electoral mandate.
Meerkat: Granted, it is a unity government. But it doesn't look like a unity government. It looks more like Umno. Harapan manifestos will be hard to believe in future elections. They will have to work hard to show results.
Not everyone is charitable enough to grant them more chances for what appears to be abandonment, rather than compromise. Even within PKR itself, they have purged the reformists.
RedWolf4463: Anwar can shout whatever manifesto he wants in the next general election. Nobody will believe him. He has morphed into the same kind of stubborn old man as former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the very leader he once opposed.
Many are simply waiting to teach him a lesson he will never forget. After Anwar, PKR will be leaderless, as he has removed any credible line of succession. The party has morphed into Umno 2.0, with many of its Malay lieutenants now entangled in corruption cases - just like Umno leaders before them.
Cogito Ergo Sum: Anyone who still believes in Harapan’s manifestos is an incorrigible optimist.
Charles, you have served your consultancy and party with distinction and honour, rarely found among politicians. It’s stupid to have let you and Dr Boo Cheng Hau go at a time when your collective experience and political foresight were most needed.
Many no longer have faith in DAP. How the mighty have fallen.
Cari makan: Manifesto has become a dirty word to the people.
Apanama is back: The recent strengthening of the ringgit is primarily driven by external factors, including interest rate cuts by the United States Federal Reserve and a global “risk-on” investor sentiment favouring emerging markets.
When US interest rates fall, returns on US-denominated assets become less attractive. Global capital then shifts to markets like Malaysia, increasing demand for the ringgit. The US dollar is a traditional safe-haven currency during periods of global uncertainty; when that uncertainty eases, the dollar weakens.
This has nothing to do with the Madani administration’s policies. Malaysia’s structural weaknesses remain - high national debt and a bloated civil service among them. The ringgit will weaken again. That is why ordinary Malaysians feel no improvement when the ringgit strengthens.
Of course, the Madani government claims credit, but this is merely temporary chest-thumping.
Ayam Kampung: PM10 has failed the rakyat and has now shown his true colours.
Our brothers and sisters in Sabah have already proved their dissatisfaction at the polls.
At the next GE, it’s time to show this turncoat and his family the door.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.