KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 – The opposition’s decision to turn down the 10-minute airtime on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) indicates fear, according to the head of the History, Heritage and Socio-culture Cluster of the National Professors Council, Prof Datuk Dr Zainal Kling(Pic).
“Their decision not to accept the airtime on RTM shows they are afraid because their manifesto cannot compare to the Barisan Nasional (BN) manifesto,” he said. According to Zainal, if the opposition were confident with its manifesto, they would not have turned down the offer.
“Unfortunately, the opposition’s campaign for the general election (GE) is focused on targeting others, thus causing themselves to come up with excuses to cover up their own weaknesses,” he said.
Another reason for the opposition to reject the offer is due to their own instability because PAS, DAP and PKR, despite being in the same boat, have differwent objectives in the upcoming GE. Meanwhile, political analyst Associate Professor Datuk Zainal Abidin Borhan said the opposition should not question the amount of airtime given. Rather, it should have accepted the offer and requested for more time, if needed.
“They should put to good use, the precious time given to spread the word on their manifesto and use their creativity. Maybe, they could use slide shows or animation to get their message across,” he said.
Zainal Abidin, a former Universiti Malaya Academy of Malay Studies director, said the government’s offer of the airtime showed it was moving towards transformation and willing to compromise with the opposition’s demands.
“Nevertheless, the opposition is still unhappy and accuses the government of unfair treatment,” he noted.
On Tuesday, PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad told reporters that PKR would follow in the footsteps of DAP and PAS, in turning down the 10-minute airtime offer to go public with the manifesto. The offer to all political parties was announced by Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim on March 22.
BERNAMA
