KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 – The Barisan Nasional (BN) will not have any problems fulfilling the promises in its manifesto for the 13th General Election (GE13) if re-elected because of its track record, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The BN deputy chairman said in the five decades the coalition had been power in the country, it had brought about manifold changes which succeeded in improving the people’s lives.
“We will use the vast experience we have to generate development on an even wider scale, on the economy, education, youth, women and religion.
“That is why when we wanted to prepare the manifesto, we took into consideration the actual situation in the country and what the people hope for,” he said on TV3’s Soal Jawab Khas programme tonight.
The programme was hosted by Datuk Ahmad A Talib, Media Prima’s executive director for news and editorial operations. Muhyiddin said the manifesto presented by BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Saturday was not “mere sweet talk” but instead contained pledges that the BN was more than confident of fulfilling if it was given a new mandate in GE13. Muhyiddin said the BN had taken into consideration all aspects of revenue generation to be able to fulfill the pledges and that “it would not do anything that was beyond its financial means.”
“We cannot put the nation in a situation of uncertainty or face disaster just because we made promises which we know cannot be fulfilled,” he said. He stressed that in formulating the manifesto, the coalition paid careful attention to detail through feedback obtained from the grassroots via various programmes like the walkabouts done by the prime minister himself so as to ensure no one was left out.
“It (coming up with the manifesto) took a long time. There was a special team to plan, review and prepare the draft which was revised time and again so that not a single group was left of the manifesto this time,” he said. He cited the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) initiave as an example, which he said had not been included in previous manifestos but was implemented by the government via the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) after considering its impact on the people and multiplier effect on the ecomony.
Muhyiddin also described the tabling of the manifesto this time, which was done before thousands of people, as the most extraordinary he had witnessed in his 40-year political career. Touching on why the BN should be returned the mandate, he said this was to ensure Malaysia’s aspiration to be a high come nation by 2020 could be realised.
“For example, where the transformation programmes are concerned, they running smoothly, so why should we want to drive the train into the ravine.” He said voters should think rationally in choosing the government and go for the one that could take Malaysia to greater heights.
“The question of changing a government is not an easy thing. Some say give it a try and if does not work out, can vote them out again.
“Because the foundation has been laid we think we can give it a try but it could result in many things having to be rolled back. What happens to the direction of the country then?
“If we want see a better future, stronger economy, more opportunities, then obviously we should go for the party that has more experience,” he said.
BERNAMA
