Selangor's second election for heads of new villages is scheduled to be held from Aug 27 and those elected will have their tenure extended from two to four years, state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah announced today.

selangor second village head election 220813 01 ean yong hian wah Ean Yong ( left ), who is in charge of investment, industrialisation and trade, development of new villages and legalisation of illegal factories, said the extension of the tenure was meant to respect the people's choice under the spirit of democracy.

However, he said, the tenure of the other village chiefs appointed by the state government would remain at two years.

The state government successfully carried out its pilot election for new village chiefs in 2010, in three villages - Kampung Baru Sungai Jarom in Jenjarom, Kampung Bagan in Pulau Ketam and Kampung Baru Pandamaran.

Previously, only those above 21 and below 60 years were eligible to contest for the posts, but this time around, there is no maximum age set, Ean Yong told a press conference at his office in Shah Alam today.

"We received complaints from some people who were above 60 years, who said they were interested to contest. So we amended the criteria and to open it to more people," he said.

The nomination days and polling days for the new village chief elections are Aug 27 and Sept 8 for both Kampung Baru Sungai Jarom and Kampung Bagan Pulau Ketam, and Sept 10 and Sept 22 for Kampung Baru Pandamaran.

"Nomination time is between 8am and 10am and polling between 8am and 4pm. The results are expected to be out by the evening," he said.

Campaign period extended to 11 days

Each village has a 11-day-long campaign period, a longer period compared to the week-long campaign in 2010.

Ean Yong said the list of voters was in accordance with the 13th general election voters list, under which Kampung Baru Sungai Jarom has 5,912 voters, Kampung Bagan Pulau Ketam 3,709 and Kampung Baru Pandamaran 17,304.

As for the use of indelible ink on the voters, Ean Yong said the colouring material for painting the hands of Indian and Malay brides in  their weddings (dakwat inai) would be used.

"Voters have to dip their fingers into the ink bottles. The ink is so much cheaper compared to that used by the Election Commission," he said, adding that the state government allocated election expenses of RM30,000 for each local election.

Ean Yong, who is also Seri Kembangan assemblyperson, said only those who have resided in the villages for at least two years and with their MyKad bearing the local address would be eligible to contest.

Pressing for revival of local council elections

He explained that the main objective of holding the village chief elections was to pressure the federal government to revive the practice of local council elections.

"We hope to prove that local elections are workable and the people have a certain level of maturity to go through this democratic process," he said.

Recently, Ean Yong said, he had sent letters to the Election Commission and Ministry of Education to seek their cooperation, including the use of schools as polling stations, but this was rejected.

Asked what if the federal government did not bother to proceed with local elections, as the DAP-led Penang government had faced a similar obstacle, Ean Yong said the exercise was not legitimate under the current election law, and the state government only had the authority to appoint village chiefs.

"We are giving power to the people in the process of electing their village chiefs, and the state government issues appointment letters to the chosen ones. That's how we work under the limitations," he said.

Local government elections were suspended in 1965 by the then-Perikatan government at the height of the Confrontation with Indonesia.

After Confrontation ended, civil society and the opposition have been calling on the federal government to restore local council elections in order to ensure accountability and democracy of the local government authorities.