PR's move to reject airtime offer is a missed opportunity

Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) move to reject the 10-minute airtime offer on Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) to present its election manifesto is deemed as a missed opportunity by political analysts.

Dr Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani from Universiti Utara Malaysia said the opposition should not have rejected the airtime as it is an opportunity to market themselves better in light of the general election.

“The time given should be sufficient for them to present their manifesto. Even in the United Kingdom, they allow 10 minutes for each political parties to campaign for themselves in what they call as ‘political ad’.

“Eventhough Pakatan Rakyat has a common manifesto, the airtime given to each coalition of PAS, DAP and PKR is 10 minutes. That’s 30 minutes to preach their manifesto. To reject it is a missed opportunity,” he told Astro Awani.

Associate Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) shared the same thoughts.

“The opposition should have utilised the 10 minutes airtime given to them to present their manifestos instead of rejecting them. Eventhough it is a mere 10 minutes, they should have used it to reach to the voters.

“There is no really an ideal time for this. For some people, even one hour may not be enough. But the 10 minutes should be enough to present the manifesto as this would not be a question and answer session.

“Also, since this is the first time the manifesto airtime is given to the opposition, it would have been a good start for future longer airtimes,” he said.

On March 22, said both Barisan National and PR parties would be given 10 minutes to air their manifestos that would be pre-recorded.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim reportedly said the ministry would implement the facility whether the parties agreed to accept it or not.

The move to provide airtime to political parties was announced following strong recommendations made by the Parliamentary Select Committee for electoral reforms for free and fair access to media for all parties.

Following the offer, DAP, PAS and PKR collectively rejected it after claiming that it is a mockery of democracy.