AS Malaysians eagerly await the Election Commission’s announcement of the nomination and polling dates after its special meeting today, the protagonists have already made their stands clear via their manifestos.

At every general election, manifestos are issued as a matter of tradition. But this is the first time that two very specific manifestos have been issued, one from the Barisan Nasional and the other from the Pakatan Rakyat.

Many may not be aware that in the last general election, what is today the Pakatan Rakyat had yet to emerge, and while there was some form of collaboration among the three parties, there was no single manifesto that united them.

The Barisan manifesto has always revealed the unity that bonds the coalition’s member parties, and the experience of having been in governance for a long time.

The Pakatan manifesto now also has its strong points although it is common knowledge that, on many key issues, the individual party stands differ.

Be that as it may, this is the first time the voter has very clear information to make an informed choice.

The debate on the manifestos has been vibrant, as it should be, and voters are poring over every word. And thanks to social media, especially, people are able to discuss and dissect the manifestos.

Obviously, the two sides are aware that the days of cobbling together a perfunctory document of intent that not many voters take the trouble to study is not good enough. This time, they have to craft detailed and comprehensive manifestos. Every promise made will be challenged and questions will be asked if the promise can be delivered.

It is interesting that the Pakatan has accused the Barisan of plagiarising some points from its manifesto, claiming that some of the ideas have been creatively reworded.

But the fact is, there are many common issues affecting the rakyat and some very common sense solutions that both will want to adopt. So who is to say who plagiarises from who? Who can claim ownership to obvious issues and ideas?

Even in mature democracies like in the United States and Britain, with their established two-party systems, there are always similar stands on some issues. And when the solutions to these issues are obvious, how can one side claim propriety over its ideas?

For the voters at large, what matters most must surely be how seriously they take each side’s promises as contained in the manifestos.

In a sense, the manifestos revealed by both sides is an indication of the maturing process of our democracy. Now we have something very serious in black and white that we, the voters, can hold both sides to account.

When the ceramah are in full swing, the voters might want to bring along a copy of the manifesto and challenge the candidate in their constituency on his or her stand.

At the end of the day, even the most noble aims outlined at the manifesto level need to be translated to the people on the ground. And that is where the real battle will be fought.

For more election stories, please visit The Star’s GE13 site

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