This article is part of a mini-series covering Malaysia’s 15th general election (GE15). The election will see radical new constitutional amendments come into play, as well as a plethora of familiar figures at the helms of competing coalitions. This election comes after four years of political breakdown, corruption charges, and instability.

This analysis offers a comparison of the policy pledges in key sectors from the three main coalitions (PH, PN, and BN).

The Economy and Social Welfare

PH: The Center for Market Education concludes that PH’s manifesto lacks a comprehensive strategy for rebuilding a pro-investment ecosystem. Rather, its economic policies are largely focused on economic growth and development through equitable measures and social welfare protection. It addresses the issues of food security extensively through government cooperation with the supply side of food and necessary goods, with an additional focus on modern farming and attracting young “agropeneurs.” Safety nets such as monthly assistance, targeting programs such as MySalam and Program Kasih Suri Malaysia towards excluded communities, and community health access, as well as government-assisted programs such as micro-credit financing schemes and providing affordable homes for ownership, are also included.

PN: The manifesto focuses on economic stimulation through the creation of a Special Investment Promotion Fund of RM5 billion, prioritizes high-tech industries to increase added value and provide high-income jobs, especially among the young workforce. With regards to the farming industry, the PN coalition is looking to allocate a RM1 billion fund with a low-interest rate to help farmers increase food production within the country, with the hopes of stabilizing food prices. Ensuring sufficient social welfare nets and issues related to the high cost of living are rarely addressed and instead, there is more focus on the broad goals of growing the economy, which often lack in-depth approaches. The economic focus is on expanding the digital economy sector. It is important to note that PN’s manifesto is the only one that includes a section dedicated exclusively to “empowering the Bumiputera Agenda” through increasing Bumiputera equity holdings by 30%, providing special incentives for the Bumiputera Agropeneur Fund by RM1 billion in the next 5 years, and increasing scholarships for professional sectors and future industries that lack Bumiputera participation, among other efforts.

BN: In terms of poverty eradication, BN’s manifesto includes an Assistive Basic Income Scheme which is credited monthly automatically to all households below a certain income level, in addition to the continuation of other assistance programs. The coalition’s food security strategy includes the creation of food valleys predominantly through government action rather than private sector involvement. The most significant strategy adopted by BN is through driving the inflow of FDI with a strong emphasis on foreign worker policy through the Migrant Worker Policy, which prioritizes skills as well as a salary and remuneration scheme that corresponds with productivity.

Healthcare

PH: The PH manifesto is the most comprehensive with regards to improved healthcare and care for the elderly, which includes doubling public healthcare spending to 5% of Malaysia’s GDP, matching the WHO’s recommendation. Both PN and BN have also pledged this amount. All these healthcare reforms will be monitored by a new Health Commission, although no explicit details are put forth regarding its formation and implementation. Healthcare is also viewed as intersectional with poverty through attempts to identify the social determinants of health, as well as safeguard the welfare of doctors and healthcare staff. Another aspect of this manifesto is PH’s recognition of Malaysia’s gradual shift towards an ageing society, thus dedicating an entire chapter to reforming caregiving for the elderly and incapacitated vis-à-vis a National Care Economy and Ageing Community Preparedness Plan (SiagaJaga), as well as another chapter on a comfortable retirement. There is also a focus on enforcing mental health protection and decriminalizing suicide.

PN: The coalition sets itself apart by providing a special tax relief of RM3,000 to “promote a healthy lifestyle among the community.” It also pledges to provide additional funds to upgrade and speed up the maintenance work of hospitals. However, there are no details as to exactly how much will be allocated and distributed within Malaysia.

BN: The primary focus of this manifesto concerning healthcare is the need for more specialist hospitals and increasing the speciality and sub-speciality training opportunities in private hospitals. It also includes sections that seek to build better protection and care for the elderly through the enactment of the Elderly Care Act and allocating more money to empower NGOs which operate care centres for the elderly.

Education

PH: The manifesto broadly tackles the issues of unequal educational opportunities stemming from (1) the rising inequality gap and (2) the effects of school closures due to the COVID pandemic. Policies proposed include renovating dilapidated schools concentrated largely in rural areas and special allowances to support teachers who will implement the recovery plan for children part of the “lost generation.” In terms of higher education, PH hopes to bring about more admission opportunities for high-achieving students, as well as increasing the number of scholarships for the B40 (bottom 40% income) group to help them reduce dependency on the National Higher Education Fund (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional or “PTPTN”) loans. There is a strong emphasis on upgrading technical and vocational education (TVET) institutions to improve skills and ultimately, employability. A standout point within this chapter is the “Zero Reject Policy,” which seeks to implement a policy of “No Discrimination, No Rejection” for all registrations into the TVET system. Several sections are devoted to important social aspects of education, such as protecting media and freedom of speech through repealing “draconian provisions of acts” such as the Sedition Act 1948 and the Printing Press and Publications Act 1984. There is also a commitment to continue efforts to abolish the Universities and University Colleges Act (Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti or “AUKU”) to promote student activism.

PN: Some of the education promises are a continuation of old policies, such as a 25% discount for Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) borrowers who graduate with second-class honours. There is an emphasis on aiding online/remote learning, particularly after the negative effects of the pandemic on the nation’s youth. The coalition has pledged to establish high-speed internet in classrooms nationwide, providing laptops for all teachers in the Ministry of Education to facilitate teaching and learning tasks, providing fast Internet access nationwide and guaranteeing affordable 5G service charges. However, the infrastructure development to support such large-scale projects of increasing broadband access across the nation, particularly in less developed areas such as Sabah and Sarawak, is not addressed. Whereas BN’s manifesto mentions intentions to “restore the crucial balance between STEM fields and fields of humanities in national schools,” PN’s manifesto intends to increase student enrolment in STEM fields.

BN: The BN coalition’s manifesto alludes to the problems that face students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as the obstacles that students face after the pandemic. It stresses free national early childhood education as part of a pro-social mobility strategy. Notwithstanding governmental assistance for lower-income students and reducing the overall cost of higher education, the manifesto references the broad “implementation of dedicated educational programs” for students left behind but does not specify policies that will guide this goal.

Political Reform

PH: The coalition’s commitment to defending democracy and promoting free speech is predominantly done through stricter checks and balances within the government, as well as curbing the potential for the abuse of power and misappropriation. This is achieved through setting term limits for the executive branch, fixed parliament term acts, and a review of appointments.

The solution for malapportionment put forth by PH is through implementing a deviation limit of 30# from the average population size of voting constituencies. However, issues of gerrymandering are yet to be addressed. Other solutions to promote a healthy, effective government include restoring the Parliament Service Act and Political Funding Act, as well as boosting the quality of MP debates by establishing a Parliamentary Budget Office.

PN: There is a strong emphasis on curbing corruption through strengthening the national anti-corruption plan and establishing dedicated courts to deal with corruption. Another key provision is the coalition’s intention to empower the Syariah and judicial system.

BN: It has pledged to explore a shift towards federalism by giving more power to the State Government, although how this will be achieved is not specified. The manifesto also seeks to promote youth involvement in government by introducing quotas for Youth Senators in the Senate (Dewan Negara) and establishing a Youth Committee for Policy Review in parliament. Additionally, efforts to maintain government integrity and curb corruption will be done by “upgrading” the Malaysian Institute of Integrity as an independent commission.

Environmental Protection

PH: This manifesto is the only one with specific renewable energy (RE) targets, which does not have a timeframe, and intends to follow through with the Climate Change Act that sets specific targets for carbon emissions and forest coverage by 2040. It also includes a Transboundary Haze Act and improved marine protected areas. Unlike BN’s manifesto, it does not include agricultural insurance or protection schemes for farmers.

PN: The coalition seeks to set up a Natural Disaster & Climate Change body, with more of an emphasis on disaster management rather than pre-emptive measures. The manifesto has overarching environmental goals, such as intensifying the preservation and conservation of forest ecosystems through stricter enforcement of regulations. However, it does not include explicit quantitative targets or time frames, as well as a weak climate pledge. As the author of the table above points out, it is worth noting that PN dismantled the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) in 2020.

BN: BN’s attempts to address environmental challenges and protection efforts are largely limited in scope and lack proactive measures. It includes 30% of the RE target of the country’s total primary energy supply, which is significantly less than PH’s 50% target. Other broad goals include being committed to government projects to comply with ESG principles and benchmarks and rightening laws to ensure sustainable mining and quarrying activities. However, details on how these will be implemented are not mentioned. There is an emphasis on electric vehicles, with the ambitious goal of ensuring 100% of public transport services and official government vehicles are environmentally friendly by 2030. It also seeks to implement strict environmental laws through higher fines of up to RM10 million.

Other pledges

These are just some of the key points of each coalition’s manifesto. There are many other pledges that are not included in this article. Additionally, other issues surrounding housing, obstacles around East Malaysia, national security, and providing support for ‘persons with disabilities' (“orang kurang upaya” or OKU) are not included in this article but remain equally as significant. Find out more about the official manifestos:

PH Manifesto: https://kitaboleh.my/en/harapan-action-plan/

PN Manifesto: https://www.pnbest.com

BN Manifesto: https://bncomms.org/padu/