Sound bites not enough, Anwar tells Najib: Copycat BN manifesto lacks spirit of REFORM

On behalf of KEADILAN, I welcome the launch of the Barisan Nasional Manifesto which took place with much glitter and fanfare Saturday night, ahead of the nomination day. As generally acknowledged, Pakatan Rakyat clearly has the upper hand for launching its Manifesto for the 13th General Election (GE13) much earlier on 25 February 2103, blazing the trail of a healthy political competition landscape.

I wish to congratulate Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak and Barisan Nasional for demonstrating openly their "endorsement" of Pakatan Rakyat's initiatives and proposed measures of late. We are really flattered that even the theme of the Barisan Nasional Manifesto i.e. “Bringing Hope”, (Membawa Harapan) bears a striking resemblance to “Pakatan the People’s Hope” (Pakatan Harapan Rakyat).

Sound bites not enough, Najib

Nevertheless, while labels are good as sound bites, I am convinced that political competition in particular during the election campaign period must revolve around policy matters and the people’s programmes, apart from issues of the candidate’s credibility and track record. As has been stressed by Pakatan Rakyat all along, the contest of ideas and policies should rightly be taken to a higher level through open debates that can be witnessed by the public in mainstream media to enable fair assessment by the people from all walks of life.

In this regard, Dato’ Seri Najib’s refusal to take up this challenge to a public debate on policies has greatly blemished his image as a credible leader and dampened the legitimate people's expectations of a healthy political competition culture through a spirited discourse on issues and policies.

Barisan Nasional’s persistent disregard for ethics and best practices of a caretaker government was further made obvious in last night’s launching of their manifesto which was broadcast live via the nation’s television and radio networks while Pakatan Rakyat's rights to such media space have been denied. This constitutes a blatantly unfair electoral practice and an outrageous misuse of public resources by a caretaker government.

Nevertheless, I remain resolved to ensure that the GE13 will be a battleground for the contest of ideas and policies within the framework of achieving healthy political competition. I have perused the BN Manifesto and will present KEADILAN’s relevant views from time to time. I have also directed KEADILAN’s policy team to fully review it and present their feedback by tomorrow, 8 April 2013.

In general, I am not convinced that the BN Manifesto can comprehensively resolve the people’s economic, political and social concerns and move the Malaysian economy forward to the next level of development. Much to the chagrin of the people, the most obvious absence in the BN Manifesto is the spirit of reforms which is crucial to rehabilitate and reconstitute the current absolutely outdated system with a lot of defects and malfunctions.

Let me reiterate the failure of the Barisan Nasional's policy framework in recognising the importance of broad-based and holistic reforms from the socio-economic, structural, institutional, political, governance and law perspectives. In fact, Dato’ Seri Najib still has not got it: Without a comprehensive reform agenda, efforts to raise Malaysia's long-term competitiveness globally to be on par with other developed nations will be constantly constrained.

Half-baked, no new ideas and zero details

The BN Manifesto also lacks new ideas and is very short on details since many programmes have been rehashed and repackaged into something with a new look, in contrast to our People’s Manifesto. More than 90% of the programmes listed are already known to the people and remain too general and lacking in specifics.

The absence of fresh ideas was so disastrous that Dato’ Seri Najib had to swallow the bitter pill and plagiarise Pakatan Rakyat’s proposals to be incorporated into the BN Manifesto in particular the lowering of car prices through a gradual elimination of excise duties by revamping the National Automotive Policy; issuance of individual taxi permits directly to taxi drivers and the price uniformisation of basic necessity items nationwide, one of major issues for the people in Sabah and Sarawak.

It is clear that the BN Manifesto is half-baked and borne out of desperation while ours was crafted based on a sincere and earnest desire to alleviate the burden of the people. Committed to a taxation system which is fair and just as proposed by Pakatan Rakyat, I am convinced that what the people want eventually is a total abolition of car excise duties. As such, up to a 30% reduction as promised in the BN Manifesto is too little and too late.

The people can no longer be bought

The BN Manifesto is still cast in the perverse and outdated belief that the hearts and minds of the people can be bought. The major thrust of the Barisan Nasional campaign whether in the form of existing initiatives or manifesto offerings centres on the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) which is to be upgraded into an annual payment of RM1,200 for families and RM600 for those unmarried.

This proposal will cost RM7.2 billion a year that I am certain will continue to rise every year, consistent with the natural population growth and the Barisan Nasional's constant failure to increase the household income beyond the qualification levels of RM3,000 for families and RM2,000 for unmarried individuals.

While I am not against any measures that will bring financial relief to the people, direct transfer payments such as the BR1M, Baucar Buku 1Malaysia dan Bantuan Persekolahan as contained in the BN Manifesto clearly constitute a short-term economic policy measure akin to vote buying without any solid proposals to solve the people's fundamental socio-economic problems for the long-term (such as monopolies which cause market distortions and price hikes; wastages, leakages and corrupt practices in public finance management that reduce allocations to enhance the people's well-being as well as other lopsided, oppressive and discriminatory public policies).

Sadly, these costly cash handouts will prove to be an economic policy failure without effectively liberating the people from the shackles of economic hardship in the long run while increasing the burden on the nation's coffers every year. I am concerned that if this culture of overdependence continues over several decades, all efforts to boost the country's productivity, value-add and competitiveness will be meaningless.

Corruption - it all boils down to political will

Proposed measures of war against corruption to eventually weed it out of the system in the BN Manifesto clearly form the nation's butt of jokes as a source of public entertainment. Equipped with strong political will without any vested interests, only the Pakatan Rakyat administration for a new federal government will be able to significantly eradicate the corruption disease through its Dasar Banteras Rasuah Negara (DEBARAN) as detailed out in its manifesto.

I will continue to give constructive views in this matter and submit to the people’s assessment and judgment as to which manifesto is better to bring about the much needed change. This process of comparing and contrasting ideas and policies will be the main platform of KEADILAN’s campaign for the GE13, to be carried out by the entire leadership, election machinery and all our candidates.

Anwar Ibrahim is the Leader of the Malaysian parliamentary Opposition and the PKR adviser