Manifesto of Political Parties In The 14th General Election (GE) In Malaysia: A Comparative Analysis

Manifesto Parti Politik Pada Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) ke-14 di Malaysia: Satu Analisis Perbandingan

Abstract

The article discusses the election manifesto in Malaysia presented by a coalition of major parties contesting in the 2018 General Election (GE), particularly Barisan Nasional (BN), Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Gagasan Sejahtera. This study is important to compare the differences of these three manifestos of a party coalition and analyse the advantages and disadvantages of the manifesto offered as it can be improved in the future. To achieve this objective, content analysis was used to examine the three manifestos offered. The results find five main findings. First, state-level manifesto studies show that there is a relationship between the party that won the election and the manifesto. In addition, local issues play an important role in the manifesto at the state level. Second, although economics is an important element in the manifesto, there are other issues that influence voters and need to be emphasized, especially in the aspects of integrity, transparency and good governance by the government. Third, in the social aspect, the findings show that important issues that can affect the youth are related to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan issue, employment opportunities, the increase in the price of goods and several other issues that have contributed to BN's defeat in the 2018 GE. The fourth is related to the political aspect, the issue of good governance became important in the 2013 GE and became more evident in the 2018 GE when BN's defeat in Sabah was also linked to one of the issues of good governance. Thus, the element of good governance in the manifesto is important and can influence voters. Finally, the manifestos offer to voters must be practical and workable. If it cannot be implemented, the incident occurred in the By-Election (PRK) in Cameron Highlands has been one of the factors in PH's defeat due to the failure to fulfill the promises in the GE 2018 manifesto. Therefore, it is recommended that the parties contesting in the election must take an approach or a better strategy in offering a manifesto to voters in the future. This approach includes listening to grassroots needs, realistic, practical and guaranteed in terms of feasibility in a plan. The implication is that, a good, realistic and workable manifesto will provide a win-win situation for both parties, namely the contesting party and the people.