When Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin mentioned that the 13th general election would be the “mother of all elections”, PAS was elated.

The party read that remark as Barisan Nasional’s way of bracing itself for big-time losses in the polls,  said PAS vice-president Husam Musa.

With that cue, PAS and Pakatan Rakyat have set out to prepare for the eventuality of BN losing Putrajaya in the coming GE, he added.

The party is preparing a manifesto rakyat which it intends to propose to Pakatan Rakyat soon.

husam musa interview 170507 stun This manifesto, said Husam ( right ), reflects the aspirations, hopes and dreams of the people.

It is not a document by the party, like BN’s manifesto which is based on the demands of its component parties - MCA, MIC and Umno, he added.

“This is where the people will tell us directly what they want, not we impose our ideas on the people,” said Husam when met in Penang.

“Our concept is to have the people tell us the solutions they want to the various issues affecting their lives,” added the Salor assemblyperson.

“The golden rule is that the people must feel that the programmes and policies we have should be based on the people’s needs, how they want to be treated or helped and not the other way around,” he stressed.

‘Send ideas to Facebook’

So far PAS is collecting such information from various sources including its Facebook members and other social networking sites.

It has up till now set up two committees - on student welfare and civil service - to study the needs, demands and hopes of these communities.

On the content of the manifesto, Husam said PAS is targetting five important issues - a review of the student government loan (PTPTN), reduction in stamp duty for purchase of houses and abolishing income tax for those with income of less than RM5,000 per month.

It also plans to reduce corporate tax so that the country’s business environment will be as competitive as its neighbours, while affordable and accessible health services is one of the manifesto’s targets.

“Our manifesto hopes to address the fears and insecurities of the people in their daily lives, jobs, health and so on, which are on the increase every day,” he said.

“It is also to address the feeling of having too great a burden, with the rising cost of living experienced by all citizens in the country,” he added.