Raveena Nagotra
In an effort to bridge the gap between elected representatives and the people, CSO Platform for Reform and Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) have launched Manifesto Rakyat.
The manifesto’s project coordinator Lim Chee Han said today that it aims to represent the diverse voices of Malaysians aspiring for a harmonious, equitable, and progressive nation.
“Many of the voices of the rakyat are not actually brought to the attention of our government and politicians. These pertinent issues affect our lives and livelihood.
“A lot of the time, politicians, they care about their self-preservation and self-interests and do not discuss in depth the people’s issues and come up with tangible practical solutions to solve people’s problems.
“People have been suffering during the pandemic, during the economic turmoil during the pandemic, and all these voices desperately need to be heard,” he said during the manifesto’s launch today.
Lim revealed that while invitations for the manifesto’s launch had been sent to over 40 politicians, not one showed up.
However, he said, several representatives from political parties did show up to today’s launch to listen to some of the issues that were discussed.
“Whether they (the politicians) support or not, we will engage them. We will also ask them about their stance on all the manifesto titles, that you (the public) make the judgement on whether they are the ones worthy of your vote,” he said.
Dubbed a “living document”, the first version of the Manifesto Rakyat identifies 27 policy areas categorised into three pillars:
Unity in diversity
Promoting, improving, and defending civil rights and liberties
Working towards a just, equitable, and democratic society
Emphasise idea ownership
The idea of the project was incepted in February 2021, which led to over 280 submissions from the public.
These submissions were vetted by a team of internal experts before being uploaded to a website for the public to view.
The public is encouraged to endorse the policies, Lim said.
“The purpose (of the manifesto) is to build broad and inclusive social conditions. It is not just for general elections, our obligation is not to political parties.
“How this is different from other manifestos is that we emphasise a lot on idea ownership, we ask people for inputs, and they gave their proposals.
“We emphasise engagement and persuasion, which means we seek people’s feedback (on the policies) and get their buy-ins and endorsements,” he added.
Its demands include reviewing Syariah legislation in the context of the Federal Constitution and human rights, reinforcing democratic citizenship in schools, and abolishing the death penalty, among others.
Original article is published here:
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/622555
No comments:
Post a Comment