KUALA LUMPUR: Analysts have expressed their disappointment over Perikatan Nasional's (PN) 15th General Election (GE15), saying that it offers little on how to manage the expected economic downturn next year.
They believe that the manifesto only offered "re-branded old promises" and lacked practical long and short-term solutions to aid the country weather the economic storm.
Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub of Universiti Malaya said although the offers made by the coalition sounded attractive, in reality, the promises only touched the surface without any in-depth approaches included.
"Basically, the promises included in the manifesto are old offers being rebranded to attract the voters. It's shallow.
"The promise to review the withdrawal of the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and a 25 per cent discount for Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) borrowers who graduate second class are old news.
"What's more disappointing is the promise to declare a public holiday after GE15 concluded.
"This is akin to belittling the voters, thinking they would be tricked into supporting PN when voters could just easily take extra off days from work," he told the New Straits Times.
Tawfik said PN should focus more on finding realistic solutions to the people's everyday struggles rather than making "political promises" without clear, in-depth strategies.
Since the world is expecting an economic downturn in 2023, he said political parties must focus on both short-term and long-term solutions.
He said an impractical manifesto would only put more strain on the country's economy.
"The cost of living is rising and the people are barely surviving. This should be the focus because people's lives are much more important than any one party's political ambitions.
"With the promises announced in yesterday's manifesto, I don't see how any of the initiatives could help cushion the economic impact expected next year.
"If we want to ensure stability, we must be realistic in our promises, which means everything we are promising to the rakyat, we must take into account the ability of our economy to survive the downturn in 2023.
"Our debt is over RM1 trillion. This is not the time to promise the stars and the moon because doing so will only make things worse for the people and the government to manage the economy."
PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had on Sunday unveiled PN's manifesto, themed "Caring, Clean and Stable: Malaysia Gemilang" or "PN Best" which included 234 offers, packaged into 12 main pillars and 30 approaches.
Other pledges included special discounts for first-time homeowners, sports and community centres in each district and empowering youth entrepreneurs through digital and future economic industries such as FinTech, Robotics and electric vehicles (EV).
