Going through Pakatan Harapan’s latest 94-plus pages manifesto reminds me how far things have progressed over the last 10 or so years. By things, I mean the current component PH parties’ ability to churn out policy documents, and overall sophistication in promoting policies. Ten or 15 years ago, PH struggled to produce such policy documents.
The inability to do so was among others due to lack of manpower or professionals in various fields within party ranks and volunteers. In the past, most professionals or even experts stayed well in the private sector. If they had political ambition or interest, they would join Barisan Nasional. Contributing to parties like DAP and PKR (or then Pas) then meant career suicide. Few were willing to sacrifice their living standards for partisan politics.
That has changed as the urban middle class now relies less on government largess, and with private employment opportunities well diversified beyond the reach of partisan hands. That trend, I think, comes as multiethnic urban voters shift their party preference from that of BN to PKR, DAP and their various allies over the years. Now, PH has access to those professionals and experts.
Even when DAP and PKR were weak during those years, they were measured on a harsher scale versus the one faced by BN. BN would be allowed to play on noob mode, but the public insisted DAP and PKR played only the hard mode. Where is your manifesto? Where is your alternative budget? Where is your shadow cabinet? That BN never took their own manifesto seriously was never questioned.
Prior to the 2010s, this was perhaps understandable because most would ask, why change when things are going okay? Reading We Are Marching Now recently, most voters then were interested in stronger checks and balances, but not a change in government. Voters were scared of change and if they were to be convinced of change, then advocates of change would need to surpass a very high bar before any convincing could take place. The status quo was easier and familiar.
But by the 2010s, changes are no longer something scary. And PH is more than capable of providing policy alternative to back its overall rally for federal power.
As for the PH manifesto itself, there are measures that I disagree with. Furthermore, I do feel there is an element of kitchen sink in it. Nevertheless, I suppose I need to remind myself that this is the nature of coalition politics, a compromise between equals. Messy but that is democracy. What is important is that, there has been progress over the years, and that progress as represented by the latest manifesto is not small by any measure.
Progress in developing policy-making skills among PH members have been so significant in the past 10 years that the corporate sector no longer could ignore PH manifesto.
