Pakatan Harapan will soon unveil its manifesto for the Johor state election, focusing on realistic and people-centric policies after final endorsement.
KULAI: Pakatan Harapan (PH) will unveil its manifesto for the 16th Johor state election soon after receiving final endorsement from the coalition’s top leadership on Monday.
PH secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the party’s manifesto committee has finalised the draft, which now only requires final approval at the coalition’s leadership meeting.
He said the manifesto would adopt a more realistic, practical and people-centric approach than previous editions, which were longer and more idealistic.
“This time, we will present a manifesto framework that is realistic, tangible and reasonable.
“We will announce it very soon, subject to final endorsement on Monday,” he told a press conference after visiting PH candidates contesting several seats in Johor as part of the coalition’s campaign efforts.
The candidates were Arthur Chiong Sen Sern (Bukit Batu), Mohd Syafwan Ani (Bukit Permai), Wong Bor Yang (Senai), Yeo Tung Siong (Pekan Nanas), Haniff @ Ghazali Hosman (Pulai Sebatang), Guna Balakrishnan (Layang-Layang) and Nor Hafiz Roslan (Machap).
Saifuddin Nasution said the manifesto would cover a wide range of priorities, including ensuring economic stability and prosperity, safeguarding people’s welfare, strengthening political stability, promoting good governance, increasing state revenue and ensuring equitable development across Johor.
He said the coalition would also champion performance-based politics while rejecting identity politics, which he said only fuels tension and distrust within society.
Saifuddin Nasution also said PH does not view straight fights in the Johor election as automatically favouring any party, stressing that each constituency must be assessed based on local dynamics.
He said that although 14 seats would see straight contests, Malaysian elections remain largely constituency-based.
“We have to look at the ethnic composition, local issues, the strengths of individual candidates and their ability to address the people’s concerns,” he said.
Saifuddin Nasution said the straight fights were largely due to Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) decision not to contest every seat, but cautioned against assuming that votes would automatically transfer to any particular party.
He said the PKR and PH election committees would immediately analyse each constituency to formulate the most suitable campaign strategies.
Meanwhile, PKR vice-president Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said one of the coalition’s key campaign issues would be narrowing the development gap between Johor’s districts, noting that despite the state’s rapid growth, some areas continue to face challenges in income levels, infrastructure and living standards.
Polling for the Johor state election is on July 11, with early voting on July 7.
For the latest updates on the 16th Johor state election, visit https://prn.bernama.com/johor/.
