'Pakatan's agenda must include local polls'

Pakatan Rakyat has been urged to include the reinstatement of local government elections in its policy document as well as its 100-days reform plan.

Civil society movement Coalition for Good Governance chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah said the exclusion of local government elections in Pakatan’s policy comes as a surprise.

This is because DAP-headed Penang has already initiated plans to compel the Election Commission (EC) to run polls for the election of councillors for the two municipal councils in the state.

State exco for local government and traffic management Chow Kon Yeow said that, should the EC fail to comply, the matter would be taken to court .

“What DAP has done in Penang is very good.. It makes everyone interested. Regardless of whether or not they succeed, the public wants local government elections anyway,” said Chin.

Human right watchdog Suaram programme manager Tah Moon Hui also expressed surprise and disappointment over the lapse, given that the Pakatan component parties had placed the revival of local polls in their 2008 general election manifesto.

“They have done studies an d research on how to bring back such elections. They have shown such efforts before,” he said.

This must be included in the Pakatan agenda if it is serious about taking over the federal administration.

Local government elections were first held in 1952 but were suspended following the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation. The suspension was not lifted when the Local Government Act 1976 was enacted.

Pakatan’s policy document , dubbed the Orange Book , was released during the coalition’s convention last Sunday in Kepala Batas, Penang.

'Abolish PPPA'

Another contentious point in the document is the coalition’s promise to only amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA), rather than abolishing it as has been pledged by its leaders.

Centre for Independent Journalism executive director Masjaliza Hamzah said Pakatan should rightfully include abolition of the law in its reform pledges to be implemented within the first 100 days of its administration.

“After the way they have been treated by the media, they should do something about it,” she said.

She said this is do- able because many countries have no restrictions on the press, leaving it to market forces to ‘regulate’ the industry.

In place of the PPPA, Masjaliza suggested the formation of a media council made up of representatives of media organisations.

“This is to ensure fair treatment and to lift controls on the media to ensure press freedom,” she added.