PETALING JAYA • With Malaysia heading towards a general election and opposition pact Pakatan Harapan (PH) having already launched its manifesto, ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) has promised "something exciting".

"Our manifesto will not be very detailed but there will be something exciting that we are going to propose in the manifesto," the coalition's strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan said.

Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman, who is a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said BN's manifesto would touch on the economy, among other things, adding: "We will talk about the people's economy, national economy, women, children, wages and efforts to mitigate the cost of living. It will cover a wide spectrum of society."

He noted that since BN was the government, it already had a lot of documents outlining its aspirations and pledges.

Asked when the manifesto would be launched, Mr Abdul Rahman pointed out that in past elections, BN's manifesto was revealed only after the dissolution of Parliament.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said PH's manifesto was "poison laced with sugar", noting that the future generation would have to pay a huge debt for some of these "reckless promises". Umno is the dominant party within the BN coalition.

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) spokesman Ti Lian Ker said the PH manifesto contained nothing for the Chinese.

"Are they so comfortable with the Chinese votes that they no longer bother to introduce policies for the community?" he asked. MCA is also part of BN.

The PH manifesto, launched on Thursday, included pledges to limit the tenures of prime minister and chief ministers to two terms, and abolish the goods and services tax.

Datuk Seri Ti said BN's manifesto was visible as it comprised the work the government had been carrying out.

"Voting for Barisan is (voting for) a continuity of good policies," he said.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has submitted its final report on the redelineation of electoral boundaries to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Its chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah said the redelineation exercise was completed on Friday.

THE STAR ONLINE/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, BERNAMA