AFTER its historic victory a year ago, Pakatan Harapan’s popularity has plunged after it reversed course on several of its most eye-catching election promises.

The ruling coalition’s defeats in three of the by-elections this year have been partly caused by a drop in support from those who voted it in the 14th general election.

Pollsters, who studied the by-election results, said the drop in support is caused by ruling coalition’s U-turns on various issues.

As such, reversing these changes in the next four years will be crucial if PH hopes to be elected for a second term, prime-minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim said.

Below are some of the biggest promises PH has backtracked on, which has opened a chasm between the coalition and some of its most ardent supporters – young working adults, civil society groups and middle class Malaysians.

Repayment of PTPTN loans

In the run-up to the 14th general election, PH received strong support from young working adults struggling to pay off college and university loans taken from the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN).

During the election, PH promised PTPTN borrowers that they would only have to repay these loans once they began earning RM4,000. It also said defaulters would no longer be on the Immigration Department’s blacklist.

While it was able to whitelist 430,000 defaulters, it was unable to keep the first promise. Weeks after being appointed, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the government would not be able to begin the delayed loan repayments due to financial problems inherited from the Najib Razak administration.

PTPTN chief executive officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who had drafted the coalition’s manifesto, even apologised in November for failing to keep the promise.

“I apologise to the people. At the time (when writing the manifesto), I was not aware of (the extent of) the national debt as well as the debt borne by PTPTN.”

With unpaid dues for PTPTN amounting to RM39 billion, keeping its promise would only worsen the country’s debt burden, Wan Saiful said.

Ending highway tolls

PH also pledged to gradually abolish toll charges by reviewing highway concession agreements.

“We believe that infrastructure like roads and highways are the responsibility of the government for the people,” it said in its manifesto, Buku Harapan.

PH has since initiated talks to acquire four tolled roads from Gamuda Bhd.

With the acquisition, it has proposed tiered congestion charges imposed according to peak and non-peak traffic hours to replace toll charges.

Political appointments in GLCs

Breaking this pledge earned PH the anger of its civil society supporters as it had promised before the election to appoint only board members of state and national government-linked companies (GLCs) based on merit and not political ties.

“The Pakatan Harapan government will ensure the appointment of state and national GLC board members will be made based on merit and professionalism, not based on politics,” it said in its manifesto.

The coalition, however, did not categorically state that politicians won’t be appointed to roles in GLCs.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali were appointed as chairman and board member of sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd after the previous board resigned en masse.

While the chairman’s post has traditionally been held by the prime minister, Azmin’s appointment as a board member did raise questions.

Azmin rebutted by saying that Khazanah will be manned by a group of professionals in its management team and his appointment does not contravene with PH’s promise.

In January, PH drew further brickbats for appointing lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi to head the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) and Mara Corporation Sdn Bhd respectively.

Haniff served as Dr Mahathir’s lawyer while Akhramsyah is a supreme council member of Bersatu, Dr Mahathir’s party in the PH coalition.

A few days later, Azmin said the government is not ruling out appointing politicians to top GLC posts if they have the required expertise.

Ratifying international treaties

Last month, the cabinet decided to hold off ratifying the Rome Statute, which would make Malaysia a party to the International Criminal Court.

Last year, it had also backed off from signing on to the International Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

These decisions are due to a rising tide of Malay nationalism fuelled by opposition parties Umno and PAS, which have played up imaginary fears that the treaties would mean the end of the special position of Malays, Islam and the Malay rulers.

These decisions were a sharp departure from PH’s promise in its Buku Harapan to ratify international human rights treaties. – May 9, 2019.