GEORGE TOWN, Oct 12 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government must tell the people which of its election promises it has decided to “abandon”, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) said today.
Kuasa, a pro-democracy non-profit, cited Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remarks that PH would not fulfil all the promises made in its manifesto for the 14th general election.
“The present government has to tell us which promises they decided to abandon,” Kuasa chief executive Praba Ganesan said.
“The present government needs to inform us if this is a prelude to a 2019 Budget which would be thin on Pakatan Harapan election manifesto.”
He said the government will then need to present their post-election manifesto with apologies so that Malaysians have a clear idea of what to expect and how to judge this government.
“Manifestos matter and if governments feel they can forget them when they are in power, should voters ignore all election promises by parties because they are all purely decorative?” he asked.
He said this was akin to tyranny or even deceit when election promises can be ignored.
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir reportedly said PH made its manifesto thinking it would not be the government.
“Now we are the government and this manifesto is a big burden,” he was quoted as saying in Bali, citing PH’s pledge to abolish highway tolls.
Praba said it was irresponsible for any party to prepare a manifesto without considering that they have to deliver it in good faith in case of victory.
“Second, it is flippant of the prime minister to set aside his own promises as too burdensome,” he said.
