KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian leader Najib Razak has promised more
cash handouts for the poor along with cheaper cars and homes, and
vowed tougher steps to combat graft as his long-ruling coalition
seeks to fend off a resurgent coalition in upcoming national
elections.
In a nationally televised address late yesterday, Mr Najib also
offered improved transportation, education and health care in an
election manifesto as he urged 13 million voters to stick to the
National Front coalition that has ruled since independence from
Britain in 1957.
He promised his coalition would do better and warned that voting
for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s three-party alliance would be
akin to gambling away the country’s future.
“This mandate that I seek is about continuity and sustainability
against disruption and stagnation, about moving forward versus
regressing,” Mr Najib said. “We have to safeguard what we have
already achieved. We cannot put at risk what we have, we cannot
gamble away our future.”
The National Front manifesto was unveiled three days after Mr
Najib dissolved Parliament, paving the way for a vote widely
expected in the next few weeks. The Election Commission will meet
Wednesday to set a polling date.
Mr Anwar’s People’s Alliance currently holds slightly more than
one-third of Parliament’s seats after the National Front endured
its worst electoral results ever in 2008 polls amid public
complaints about graft and racial discrimination.
Although the opposition has a strong chance at the polls, most
analysts believe Mr Najib’s coalition will have the upper hand
because of its support in predominantly rural constituencies that
hold the key to a large number of Parliament’s seats.
The opposition alliance, in a bid to break the National Front’s
hold on power, has also made generous promises to lower the cost of
living, with cheaper cars and fuel and free university education.
It also vowed to create new jobs, raise incomes and curb
long-entrenched problems, including corruption and racial
discrimination if it wins power.
“This election is a race to be more populist. It is about which
coalition can promise to give more to Malaysians. It’s setting a
very unhealthy trend in Malaysian politics,” said Mr Wan Saiful Wan
Jan, who heads the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a
Malaysian think tank.
In the manifesto, Mr Najib pledged to gradually raise an annual
handout for millions of poor households from 500 ringgit (S$203) to
1,200 ringgit (S$487), build a million low-cost homes and lower car
prices by up to 30 per cent over the next five years.
He laid out the country’s strong economic growth and said the
government aims to woo 1.3 trillion ringgit (S$527 billion) in
investment by 2020 to create 3.3 million jobs. He promised to
bolster the police force to fight crime, set up more specialist
graft courts and improve transparency with public disclosure of
government contracts.
Mr Najib’s government has already spent hundreds of millions of
dollars on financial handouts for students, low-income families and
government employees in the last two years. The premier has also
intensified efforts to win back support by abolishing security laws
that were widely considered repressive.
“The National Front is trying to play catch up with us, but what
the people want is not just more money. They want a real systemic
reform in the economy. They want a cleaner and a fairer society,”
said opposition lawmaker Liew Chin Tong. -- AP