GIVE BN MANDATE OR OPPOSITION?

The 12^th General Elections will be held in 8^th March 2008. As usual, all the major political parties announced their manifestos, which represent their public declaration and pledge to uphold their stated principles and goals.

The most ultimate important questions remain: Are we going to give BN the mandate again? Are we going to deny BN by saying “Enough is enough, it has to stop here” and deny BN’s two-thirds majority? Are we going to support the untested and ideologies all differ of the opposition parties?

Ironically, one of the most important basic question every voter should be bear in mind before voting in the coming general election will Malaysia still move forward with the slogan Security, Peace and Prosperity and becoming developed country?

With the theme “Security, Peace and Prosperity,” the Barisan Nasional manifesto promises continuing to eradicate hardcore poverty, help the small and medium-sized enterprises, improve the quality of education, boost development and create additional jobs through the five economic corridors, improve public transport services and to improve relations between the different racial and religious communities.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), vows to adhere to the spirit of the Malaysian Federal Constitution, eliminating discriminative policies, ensure assistance for all in need, aims to improve the economic and market structure to attract more foreign investments and make Malaysia affordable for all, including lowering the price of petrol in line with PETRONAS’ higher profits.

PAS has pushed its Islamic-state agenda into the background and on a pledge to turn Malaysia into “welfare state".

The challenging bit lies in Malaysian voters is making wise, and therefore correct choices. The voters should carefully weighing the campaign pledges, pronouncements and manifestos. They should determine which are the best to deliver positive results while moving toward becoming developed country.