KUCHIHG, April 15: Pakatan Harapan’s (PH’s) manifesto is better than Barisan Nasional’s (BN’s) cash bait and recycled promises, says state Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman Baru Bian.
In a press statement today, Baru said that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s attempt at discrediting the PH Manifesto by training his guns on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad shows his poor understanding of the workings of the PH coalition.
“The PH manifesto was formulated by a working committee and agreed upon by all four parties in Pakatan Harapan. It was not written by Dr Mahathir alone,” said the Ba’kelalan state assemblyman.
Baru said BN had so many years to deliver on their previous promises and should be campaigning on their track record but instead, BN’s main attraction is the promise of increased BR1M and Najib’s offering of cash bait such as the petrol allowances and BR1M to taxi drivers recently.
He was also disappointed that BN has still not offered explanations for the 1MDB and other corruption scandals nor preventive measures against further scandals.
Baru also questioned the caretaker PM’s sincerity in fulfilling all the promises in the BN manifesto, such as upgrading all dilapidated schools within five years.
“The 2012 Education blueprint stated that by the end of 2013, critical repairs and upgrades would be completed across all 1,608 dilapidated schools starting with those in Sabah and Sarawak. It is now 2018 and many of our rural students are still attending classes in dilapidated schools.
“Promises of allocations of billions have been made by the BN government repeatedly in the past few years but even Abang Johari got tired of their promises and sought permission from Najib to use our own state funds to repair our dilapidated schools.”
Baru also questioned the rationale of having a Sarawak BN supplementary manifesto since Sarawak is not having a state election.
“Is it because Abang Jo and the Sarawak BN are unable to get our Sarawak rights acknowledged sufficiently in the national BN manifesto? It is telling that the only mention of our rights in the national BN manifesto is a one liner: ‘The rights of Sabah and Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 will be realised by consensus’.”
Baru pointed out that Sarawak and Sabah get only a few mentions in the national BN manifesto, and there is no mention about recognising important matters such as native customary rights (NCR) and the only offer from BN is to assist in surveying NCR land.
In contrast, Baru said the national PH manifesto dedicates nine wide-ranging promises to the people of Sabah and Sarawak.
“No negotiation and consensus needed — the national PH leaders have acknowledged and agreed to respect our rights, and have made promises to uplift the lives of our people. A PH government will ensure the return and guarantee the right over customary land for the people of Sabah and Sarawak,” he added. — DayakDaily
