PETALING JAYA: Political parties contesting in the upcoming general election are advised not to promise the moon and the stars to voters, observers said.
They also urged those contesting in the GE15 to take into account the country’s financial situation before producing their manifesto.
They told The Malaysian Insight that although a party must not promise to implement a policy beyond their reach.
Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said it would be irresponsible for a party to promise something that cannot be fulfilled for the sake of winning the election.
“In our study, we found that a manifesto has little impact on voters. Those in the urban or semi urban areas would pay more attention, but not rural voters. Voters will be more inclined to look at the candidate itself or the party contesting when making their choice.
“A manifesto is the ‘ajinomoto’ for a party contesting in an election. Without a manifesto, it is not complete. A manifesto is used by a party to get close to voters.
“However, it must not be used to promise the moon or make populist statements just to win an election. I think almost every party had the experience (of governing). Therefore, they should be more responsible when drafting a manifesto this time,” Hisommudin told the portal.
Meanwhile, Economist Barjoyai Bardai of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak echoed a similar sentiment, saying that each political party must look at the current economic situation before offering election promises to the people.
