Salleh Said Keruak
Pakatan Harapan’s 138-page manifesto makes a lot of promises such as giving more money to the rakyat. But how do they plan to replace the lost income? They also talk about giving the states the equivalent of 20% oil royalty. Will this mean grants and development budgets would now be reduced or is it an additional burden to grants and development budgets? How can the country afford that and where will the money come from? That question is never explained. We need to make promises that can be delivered, not just any promises to help win the election.
In that same manifesto Pakatan Harapan talks about restoring the ‘kedaulatan’ or sovereignty of the law. It is the actually the same thing the Opposition said back in 1988, and then in 1998, when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was accused to practice rule by law instead of rule of law. Today, Pakatan Harapan are saying the same thing again and have chosen Tun Mahathir to lead the ‘change’. What logic is this?
Pakatan Harapan also says the sovereignty of the nation has been pawned (gadai). What does that this actually mean? Are they saying Malaysia no longer an independent country? This is again simple exaggeration and sensationalism. Malaysia is still merdeka and its sovereignty is intact.
We need to be realistic. The fact is that Pakatan’s manifesto is big on words but small in substance. With reduced income and increased spending, Pakatan is not going to deliver all their promises and still develop Malaysia.
We must build our nation on proven plans, not recycled promises.
Source: sskeruak.blogspot.my
