The Manifesto Rakyat

 

The Peoples’ Manifesto (or Manifesto Rakyat in Malay) is a collaborative project between Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) and CSO Platform for Reform (CSO Platform). Initiated in 2021, the project aims to collect the diverse voices in society and reflect what the people want, demand and care about in the various policy areas. The Manifesto is intended to serve as a contemporary reference for political parties and an advocacy platform for civil society as a whole.

 

A distinguishing feature of the Manifesto is that it mentions specific ideas contributed by civil society and the general public in their own individual or organisational names. The Manifesto is also open for public endorsement by chapter and in its entirety. This dedicated website (manifestorakyat2021.org) allows for future updates and amendments to the Manifesto so that it is adaptive to sociopolitical changes—hence, the Peoples’ Manifesto strives to be relevant as a ‘living document’.

 

The project concept was conceived by the GBM political cluster in February 2021 and accepted by the GBM Executive Committee the following month, and the collaboration with the CSO Platform was confirmed soon after. A dedicated core team was formed to coordinate the project. The first press conference on 11 May 2021 invited proposals* from the public under 27 identified policy areas that were categorised into 3 pillars. The public submission process went on for three months and by the end of it, more than 280 proposals were received. Upon review by a team of internal experts guided by the terms and conditions, the proposals were then published on the website.

 

A two-day Policy Town Hall meeting was held online from 2 to 3 October 2021. Two parallel sessions going through all 27 policy areas were run concurrently via the GBM and CSO Platform Zoom and Facebook Live channels. About 220 selected proposals and additional ones submitted during the meeting were discussed, and proposers were invited to present their ideas. These discussions served as the key deliberation process for the final selection, and the chosen proposals were subsequently compiled and arranged into the final document here.

 

* Each proposal submission was supposed to adhere to the 400-word-limit guideline and a framework structure: Title, Issue/Problem statement, Value(s)/Belief, Solution(s)/Call for action. Most submissions were made online through Google Form; some through email by filling up the official submission form.

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Updated: 22 May, 2022