Civil rights group Suaram has expressed disappointment with the Pakatan Harapan government as the coalition nears its 100 days in power, particularly in regard to keeping to promises made in its election manifesto.

As examples, its adviser Kua Kia Soong (above) cited Harapan's "flip-flopping" on several of its pledges including giving royalty to oil-producing states and abolishing tolls on highways.

"Oil royalty was promised to East Coast states. (The government) is flip-flopping on this royalty issue (and also) on abolishing the highway tolls," Kua said when presenting Suaram's findings on Harapan's 100 days in power at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali has previously explained that the 20 percent oil royalty pledge by the government was the quantum from the profit and not from the total production of oil.

Kelantan has insisted on being given a five percent royalty from production while Terengganu has said it will scrutinise the matter first.

Azmin has also said that the government "cannot rush" giving a 20 percent oil royalty because the matter requires an amendment to the Petroleum Development Act 1974.

Other issues raised by Kua were the lack of investigation against Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his family not declaring their assets.

De facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong has said that Taib, who is often accused of corruption during his stint as chief minister, had been cleared in 2013.

This while the MACC said that it had previously opened 15 investigation papers on Taib case but they were all closed due to lack of evidence. The commission has also welcomed fresh information from Taib's critics.

Kua also accused the government of being more focused on finding fault with the previous government.

"We read news about the 'missing' GST refunds but what is the follow-up action on the matter? Have the police or the attorney-general acted? Supposedly, we should have been informed on what happened to the money in a week," he said.

'Reformer is not the cleaner'

Meanwhile, electoral watchdog Bersih also echoed Suaram on the manifesto issue but acknowledged the difficulty faced by Harapan in having inherited the administration from BN.

"Dissatisfied, but generally, it's alright. We understand it's not easy to fix a 60-year-old problem. It's difficult for a minister to come to a dilapidated house and suddenly clean it up.

"However, we cannot let a government move at its own pace without comments and criticisms from the rakyat," said Bersih acting chairperson Shahrul Aman Shaari (above).

Sharul thanked the Harapan government for providing room for NGOs to criticise as opposed to the previous administration which labelled such voices of dissent as opposition.

Nottingham University's Assistant Professor of Social Sciences Gayatry Venkiteswaran also hoped the new government would stop being the "cleaner" and starting acting the "reformer" it had portrayed.

"They (the government) want to portray BN is the worst light. True, BN was responsible for many things.

"But the new government should take a more open approach to carry out reform," she said.