Some Pakatan pledges difficult to fulfil within 100 days, DAP strategist admits

(MMO) – Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong has admitted that some of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) manifesto pledges will be hard to fulfil within 100 days, echoing some of its allies’ concerns.

The DAP strategist said the manifesto was drafted when the pact was going into power blind, and now as part of the Cabinet, the party had access to an influx of information on the country’s real state of affairs.

“We make decisions based on the information obtained, and I do not expect all the pledges to be completed within 100 days after PH assumed power.

“However, I can assure you that within the 100 days, the federal government will plot a clear course to achieve those pledges,” he told Malay Mail in a recent interview.

Liew was responding to former minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, who said PH should carefully evaluate which election pledges it can realistically deliver instead of attempting to meet all of them hastily.

Rafidah added that while PH aimed to deliver many of these pledges in its first 100 days, she said such a timeline would not be practical for more complicated reforms.

Liew went on to explain that the 100-day pledge originated from US president Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) who assumed office in 1933 when the country was facing its worst economic crisis in history.

During the first 100 days of his presidency, FDR spearheaded unprecedented federal legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New Deal — a variety of programmes designed to produce relief, recovery and reform during the Great Depression.

Liew said what FDR accomplished set a framework for the US government that lasted until the presidency of Ronald Reagan five decades later.

“The lesson we learned is very important, and that is to have a very clear direction and not so much on what you actually do but to steer things in the right direction.

“For Malaysia, in the next 80 days, we are not looking at fulfilling the promises word by word but to develop a clear direction from the period of 100 days,” he said.

He went on to say the government’s reform plans will cover three major areas in the next 80 days: Institutional reforms, the economy and national unity.

“If the government is able to set a clear direction in these three areas, then the 100 days are definitely worth it, despite not being able to fulfil all of the pledges word by word,” he said.

As for the economy, Liew said he hoped to see one that empathises with the public, compared to what existed during the previous BN administration.

“Malaysians voted against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) but I also think they voted against Najib for his lack of empathy for implementing the GST and his failure to understand the plight of ordinary Malaysians.

“The introduction of BR1M was necessary because people were not earning enough and the argument for introducing the GST was unacceptable,” he said, referring to the 1Malaysia People’s Aid handouts.

In 2014, a year before the GST was introduced, Najib had said the number of taxpayers in the country was still low — within a million out of 30 million Malaysians — and many did not pay tax to contribute to the nation’s wealth.

Liew also mooted a non-partisan Parliament Budgetary Office, which would be answerable to Parliament, to oversee the budgets of both sides of the political divide when policies are suggested prior to an election.

As for national unity, he said the government must decide on the direction of ethnic relations and building a Malaysian identity.

“In GE14, the people voted against Datuk Seri Najib Razak and ousted his Barisan Nasional regime from power after six decades of rule.

“However, the most important thing is that the people voted against the system that created Najib,” he said, adding that PH must ensure a similar public figure does not emerge again.

“What Malaysians achieved during the election was commendable, as many felt they did it together as Malaysians with a sense of camaraderie in the face of adversity. Against all odds, we made history.

“Now, we must decide how to preserve that sense of participation in nation building. How do we generate the ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ pride to make it something that we are proud of?” he added.

He said he hoped to see Malaysia get rid of race-based politics as such a notion was ultimately limiting.

“We may be culturally Chinese, Indian or Malay, but politically, we should participate as citizens of the nation and public policies must be inclusive of all,” he said.