Pakatan ditches ‘idealistic’ hundred-page manifestos for ‘realistic’ Johor vows; keeping MB choice under wraps

KULAI, June 28 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) will unveil its Johor election manifesto in the coming days with what it says will be a more practical and realistic set of promises, while keeping the identity of its menteri besar candidate close to its chest for now.

PH secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the coalition’s manifesto has been finalised and is awaiting final endorsement by its top leadership at a meeting on June 29 before being launched, Harian Metro reported this afternoon.

“In the past, Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and I were too idealistic when preparing manifestos. They ran into hundreds of pages and covered all sorts of things. But over time we became much more realistic. A manifesto should be something realistic that people can understand and relate to,” he was quoted as saying in a press conference here.

Saifuddin Nasution said this time the coalition wanted to present a manifesto that was “realistic, tangible and reasonable”, with a simpler presentation that would not dilute its policy offerings.

He said the manifesto would focus on economic stability and prosperity, public welfare, political stability, good governance, increasing state revenue and ensuring the benefits of growth are shared more fairly with Johoreans.

He also said PH would continue championing what it described as performance-based politics over identity politics, arguing that voters were better served by solutions than divisive rhetoric.

He said Johor also stood to benefit from having a state administration that worked in tandem with the federal government to accelerate development and deliver more effectively on public policies.

On the question of PH's menteri besar candidate should the coalition win the Johor state election, Saifuddin Nasution said an announcement would only be made when the time was right.

He said PH's immediate priority was to campaign for its candidates and present its manifesto to voters across the state.

Saifuddin Nasution, who is also PKR's joint election director, said all 56 PH candidates successfully submitted their nomination papers yesterday, describing it as a positive start to the coalition's campaign.

Speculation over PH's choice for Johor menteri besar has continued throughout the election campaign, with former education minister Datuk Maszlee Malik widely tipped as a possible candidate if the coalition forms the next state government.

Maszlee was today nominated as PH’s Puteri Wangsa candidate.