SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional says it is prepared to be held to account for its Negri Sembilan election promises, unveiling a dedicated unit to monitor the delivery of every commitment in its newly launched state manifesto.
Barisan state election director Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias said the manifesto, launched at Sendayan on Friday (July 24), would be backed by a Manifesto Implementation Monitoring Unit to ensure each pledge was tracked, evaluated and carried out.
"What sets Barisan apart is that we are not only brave enough to make commitments, but we are also prepared to be held accountable," said Jalaluddin, who is also state Umno chief.
The success of a manifesto, he added, should be measured "not on the day it is launched, but when the people can feel its benefits."
He said the document was not merely an election pamphlet but a commitment that would guide the running of the state should voters return Barisan to power.
For that reason, Barisan did not begin by asking which promises would sound most appealing, but by asking what the people of Negeri Sembilan genuinely needed, he said.
Jalaluddin said the coalition had deliberately avoided promises that merely sounded good, opting instead for a plan that was realistic and within the government's means.
A good manifesto, he said, was not the thickest document nor one filled with pledges that were hard to keep, but one that could change lives and actually be implemented.
He said the manifesto spanned the economy and job creation, the raising of living standards, education, youth, women and entrepreneurs, agriculture and rural development, security, housing, the environment, tourism and public service delivery, framed so that development would reach every citizen "without anyone left behind."
The launch, he stressed, was not the end of Barisan’s work but the beginning of a bigger task.
He appealed to voters not to decide based on emotion or sentiment, but to judge the coalition on its track record, its commitments and its ability to deliver.
Jalaluddin also urged Barisan machinery to campaign with facts rather than slander, and to practise "politics that unites, not one that divides the people."
Negri Sembilan goes to the polls on Aug 1.
