Santhara moots panel to ensure election pledges are carried out

Edmund Santhara Kumar suggested that the committee be chaired by former MP Charles Santiago of DAP.

HULU SELANGOR: A former deputy minister has called on the Selangor government to set up a committee to monitor the implementation of election pledges made during campaigning for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.

Edmund Santhara Kumar also proposed that the committee be chaired by former Klang MP, Charles Santiago as he actively engages with the grassroots community and is familiar with their concerns.

“Often during an election, a lot of promises are made but after that, nothing is implemented,” Santhara told FMT. If no mechanism is put in place, “everybody will forget (these promises) in the next few years and then history will repeat itself”.

He said the committee should also comprise opposition assemblymen and NGOs.

His call for a committee to oversee initiatives promised during the campaign period comes a day after Santiago suggested the government form a committee to monitor the social impact of programmes for the community.

He said the Indian community was unhappy with the government for being slow in delivering initiatives designed to help them.

Santhara, a former MP with PKR and Bersatu, was deputy federal territories minister in the Perikatan Nasional government of Muhyiddin Yassin from March 2020 to August 2021 and deputy minister of tourism, arts and culture in the Barisan Nasional government of Ismail Sabri Yaakob, from August 2021 to November 2022.

He was roped in by PN to help shore up Indian support at the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.

He predicted that the opposition coalition will gain half the Indian votes in tomorrow’s by-election. Indians make up 18% of the registered voters in the constituency.

Santhara said a lot of promises had been made by the state and federal governments during their election campaign and this would inevitably attract more Indians to vote for Pakatan Harapan.

However, the Indian community’s unhappiness with the government should not be overlooked.

“I’d say the Indian votes for PN and PH will be 50:50. There are a few pressing issues, such as housing and job opportunities, so it depends on which coalition can grasp these issues better,” he said.

The by-election tomorrow is a four-cornered fight between PH’s Pang Sock Tao, PN’s Khairul Azhari Saut, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Hafizah Zainuddin and independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin.