Be cautious of non-binding election manifestos

AS the polling date for the 15th general election (GE15) gets closer, politicians and political parties in the country will be more eager to lure voters with “sweet” promises.

Usually, these promises are inserted in a document known as an election manifesto. Voters need to be extra cautious with all these promises pledged before an election because it has no legal value.

If an election candidate or political party refuses to fulfil these promises after the election, there is nothing much voters can do. It will be difficult for voters to take legal action to force the maker of such promises to fulfil them because it is not legally binding.

The Court of Appeal in 2013 held that an election manifesto is not legally enforceable. Following this landmark ruling, the three-member panel led by Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus struck out a civil suit brought by a group of single mothers who were seeking RM10.9 million in allowances over the Selangor government’s alleged failure to fulfil its promises in a manifesto presented before the 2008 general election. The panel, also comprising Justices Abdul Aziz Abd Rahim and Tan Sri Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, allowed the appeal by the Selangor government and the then Selangor mentri besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, to set aside the High Court’s refusal to strike out the suit.

Mohd Hishamudin agreed with the submission forwarded by lawyer A. Vishnu Kumar, who represented the Selangor government and Khalid, that the manifesto was not a legally binding document. Vishu had submitted that a person who was aggrieved over the failure to fulfil an election manifesto cannot seek redress.

Vishnu said their remedy was of a political nature, citing English court cases including one by well-known judge Lord Denning, who had pronounced that voters’ remedy for non-fulfilment of election promises lies in the ballot box.

Mohd Hishamuddin also accepted Vishu’s argument that the group could not challenge the matter as their civil suit was filed out of time.

So, what is an election manifesto? It is a published declaration of intentions, motives or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. An election manifesto is usually unveiled by a political party before an election, to persuade voters to vote for the contesting candidate.

Voters are normally swayed to vote for a candidate or political party with the best manifesto. Most pledges touch on matters pertaining to improving the people’s quality of life like reducing the cost of living, providing more job opportunities, improving public transport and basic facilities, providing more social welfare, offering easy or free excess to the internet, expanding education opportunities, waiver on loan debts, and much more. These tempting promises can usually win the hearts and minds of voters, however, in reality they are legally unenforceable. As such, voters need to be aware and not be enticed by these promises.

Although election candidates or political parties are not legally bound to fulfil these pledges, they have a moral obligation to the people to make good of such promises, hence the Malay saying, “manusia dipegang kepada janjinya” (a person is held to the promises he or she makes).

We also need to reconsider the legal status of election manifestos in order to protect the rights and interests of the people in the country. We need to set new rules to make election manifestos legally binding if we want to progress as a democratic country.

At the same time, our Election Commission should consider setting up a special committee to analyse this issue further. Proposed amendments can be made to the Election Offences Act 1954 [Act 5] or any relevant statutes relating to the election process.

Once election manifestos have a legal force, politicians will be more cautious when making pledges and backing down from fulfilling their promises, and the voters rights and interests can be safeguarded. If politicians want to gain the respect, trust and confidence of voters and the people, they should fulfil pledges that are made.