SHAH ALAM, 6 Apr: When Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is tirelessly travelling across the country to present the election manifesto to the people; Umno-BN has an easy way when its manifesto was broadcast live by government-owned and mainstream media.
This scenario is rather humorous when the assessment is made on the promise of mass media transformation, which is often propagated by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“It is quite humorous when they (Umno-BN) offered 10 minutes to Pakatan Rakyat to present the manifesto (recorded),” said former Sungai Petani Member of Parliament, Datuk Johari Abdul to TV Selangor today on the matter.
The launch of the BN manifesto for the 13th General Elections (GE-13) by Najib at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in a special ceremony will be broadcast live by the mainstream media of the country.
Johari also questioned the live broadcast because the existing government is an interim government where Umno-BN as the administrator cannot use any government agencies or machinery for the party.
“I want to ask if Umno-BN is paying RTM or not for using government facilities. Legally, they (Umno-BN) cannot use it for the purpose of party work,” he said.
Johari claimed that Umno is making changes to its manifesto which is believed to have completed early but pulled back when PR launched their manifesto earlier.
For example, he said, the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) was never debated in Parliament for the 2010, 2011 or even the 2012 budget.
“When PR prepared the Orange Book in 2010, which clearly stated therein the assistance of RM1,000 per year for the low-income Malaysian in particular, Umno-BN then launched the BR1M even though no budget was approved by Parliament.
“This shows that Umno-BN has run out of ideas. They will make adjustments to what they have and according to what has been proposed by PR. To me, Umno-BN has no originality and is merely a copycat,” he said.