JOHOR BARU: While many voters may not pay much attention to political parties’ election manifestos, such documents give a glimpse of the future plans and policies of the parties and candidates, according to political observers.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Mazlan Ali said voters can use these manifestos to hold their political party or candidate to account when they are elected.
Barisan Nasional, he added, was the first to announce its manifesto, saying it is aims to attract urban and semi-urban voters, B40 groups and young people.
“Maybe they know that their strength lies with rural and Felda voters. As such, they are trying to convince Pakatan Harapan’s voters to switch over.
“Their manifesto is an extension of the programmes that they are already doing and its quite strategically done,” he said, adding that they have included touchpoints on cash incentives, youth schemes, housing schemes and support for small businesses.
Although Pakatan has yet to officially announce their manifesto, Mazlan said they will showcase their present efforts at the federal level, including introducing a Budi scheme for diesel users.
“I believe their manifesto will not be overly populist as they do not want to be associated with unfilled promises, as this could backfire during GE16.”
For Perikatan Nasional, Mazlan said he is unsure whether its parties will put aside their internal feud to come up with a manifesto for the polls.
However he added Perikatan’s manifesto would be more aligned towards the Malay community.
“Nowadays, manifestos are no longer those with wordy text but short clips or videos via social media with catchy headings.”
Besides Barisan, which unveiled a 63-point manifesto focusing on maintaining stability and continuing the state’s development momentum, Muda also announced its three-point manifesto online.
Meanwhile, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Md Akbal Abdullah said that candidates and parties should avoid announcing populist plans that might not be achievable.
“Candidates now have their own ideas and plans to tailor a more localised manifesto, such as cleaning drains, patching potholes or keeping neighbourhoods clean and safe, which can also appeal to voters.”
He added that bread and butter issues such as plans to tackle rising cost of living or unemployment or creating more high-paying jobs can also appeal to voters, especially the youths.
“For seniors, they want proper healthcare facilities or welfare programmes as some of them are living alone in the villages while their children work in town or even Singapore.”
