Najib also guilty of not fulfilling election promises - Syed Hamid

Former premier Najib Abdul Razak himself did not fulfil the majority of promises made in the 13th general election (GE13) manifesto, said Bersatu member Syed Hamid Albar today.

"Out of the 60 promises made in BN's GE13 manifesto, only 21 were carried out," said the former minister while moderating a seminar in Kuala Lumpur.

He was responding to a remark by one of the panellists, MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker, who criticised the Pakatan Harapan government for failing to keep its election promises.

The veteran politician then shared his experience of being the five-term Umno MP for Kota Tinggi.

"When I contested the general election for the first time, a senior citizen came to see me and told me to never make promises.

"If the voters ask for something, you don't promise (to fulfil it). Just tell them you will consider it," Syed Hamid recalled the elderly voter as saying.

Nevertheless, he stressed the importance of a ruling coalition carrying out its electoral promises in order to secure the voters' trust.

Syed Hamid and Ti were speaking at a seminar titled "GE14 and the Year Since: Analyses and Perspectives", which was organised by the International Islamic University Malaysia.

People are watching gov't

Earlier, Ti (photo) said that the people were monitoring the government.

"I would like to stress that the rakyat are not stupid, and they are watching the government.

"Firstly, I myself believe that there needs to be a change to several Umno leaders who are constantly playing up racial sentiments. But what changes has Harapan brought?" he asked, further claiming that the Chinese community is unhappy with the coalition regarding the as-yet unfulfilled pledges to introduce local government elections, and to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).

"DAP used to claim that MCA was Umno's lapdog, which resulted in about 93 percent Chinese voters choosing Harapan.

"But today, MCA is still around but DAP is 'nowhere'. The people call it the 'silent' party," claimed Ti.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin had said yesterday that the government is expected to amend several laws in Parliament at the end of next year, or in early 2021, to reinstate local government elections.

Meanwhile, a task force established by the Education Ministry to study the recognition of the UEC is expected to submit its findings to the government in July this year. 

'Party logo mattered more than manifesto'

Meanwhile, another panellist, Zuhdi Marzuki from PAS (photo), said that party logos mattered more than a manifesto to GE14 voters.

However, after the election, many started paying attention to the promises made, he said.

"Elderly voters chose according to party ideology, while younger voters voted based on current issues.

"The voting pattern differed according to locations. Some followed ideology while some chose personalities and manifesto," said the PAS research centre director.

According to Zuhdi, who is also a PAS central committee member, Harapan tried to lure GE14 voters with "sweets and things".

"However, they (Harapan) did not make promises based on vision and mission, which are supposed to benefit the community," he said. - Mkini