Kuala Lumpur was declared a "Federal Territory" exactly three decades ago tomorrow. The federal government reasoned that Kuala Lumpur, as the federal capital, would be better governed when placed under its direct rule. Malaysia was initially conceived as a three-tier democracy with elected federal, state and local authority. (Local elections are not held since 1965). In contrast to the residents of other states in the country who elect their federal and state representatives, the 1.3 million KL residents only have the right to elect a ten-member delegation (eleven for the coming elections) to the federal parliament.

As we commemorate Federal Territory Day, I would like to examine three issues to support the argument that the residents of KL should no longer be deprived of their right to elect a sub-national government.

First, "federal territories" in other countries actually elect their own local governing bodies. Second, given the creation of Putrajaya, the functions of KL as federal capital has lost its meaning. Third, and most importantly, immediate measures should be taken to ensure transparency and accountability of KL City Hall, the second biggest sub-national government in the country. Given these reasons, the people of KL should be allowed to elect their own state government, and be freed from autocratic rule by the Prime Minister's Department through an appointed mayor.

The concept of FT elsewhere

The government's use of KL's federal capital status as an excuse to deprive the democratic rights of its citizens started a long way back. In 1961, fearing that the ruling Alliance Party's grip on KL would be eroded in the municipal elections, the government decided to transfer authority from an elected council to an appointed Federal Commissioner, who was responsible solely to the Interior Minister. An Advisory Board consisting of eleven members assisted the Commissioner. This is the origins of the double deprivations of KL citizens: not only could they not elect state representatives like all the other cities in the country, but they also had no appointed local council members (with decision making power) to serve them.

Kuala Lumpur was originally part of Selangor. In the 1969 elections, the Alliance Party won only 14 of the 28 seats in the Selangor assembly. This resulted in a hung parliament. The opposition won most of their seats in the vicinity of KL. Thus, the Tun Razak government, determined to prevent any future possibility of losing the Selangor legislature, decided to turn Kuala Lumpur into a federal territory in February 1974, a few months before the general elections of that year.

The concept of "federal territory" is a slightly modified version of Washington District of Colombia (D.C.) and Australia Capital Territory (ACT) in Canberra. Like Malaysia, both the United States and Australian governments are federal systems. However, the argument that local representation is not needed under direct federal rule does not hold water as these two examples demonstrate. The 570,000-population of Washington D.C. has an elected mayor and a 13-member council. Meanwhile, the 330,000-population of Canberra has a territorial assembly with 17 members, from which a chief minister and a five-person cabinet are selected.

Kuala Lumpur's 1.3-million population is bigger than DC or the ACT. Among Malaysian states, it ranks seventh in terms of population size. It is, therefore, legitimate for a KL resident to ask why can't KL have a state government if the residents of the miniature Perlis, with less than 200,000 population, could elect a 15-member legislature.

The case for KL to be made into a full state becomes stronger with the opening of Putrajaya in June 1999. Today, most major government offices have been relocated to the planned city, with the judiciary moving there just recently. Putrajaya would fully become the federal capital if the official palace of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Federal Parliament moves to the new city.

Putrajaya is a strange creature among the species of planned capitals. Since modern governments claim their legitimacy from representing the populace, legislature buildings are usually the most important structures in other planned capitals, like in Washington, Brasilia, Canberra, and Abuja (in Nigeria). However, the city built by Malaysia's former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad excluded the Parliament. Instead, the most imposing structure in the new capital is the premier's office - the Bangunan Perdana Putra.

It is also interesting to note that the palace built for the King in Putrajaya, dubbed Istana Melawati, is only a royal retreat ( istana hinggap ). His majesty carries out his official duties in the old Istana Negara in the heart of KL. Mahathir had announced that a new national palace would be built in Jalan Duta (also within the vicinity of KL).

The Federal Constitution (Article 32) stipulates that the King should take absolute precedence over all persons in the country. Yet, the cost of constructing the Seri Perdana Putrajaya, the official residence of the premier, is at least RM80 million more than the Istana Melawati. The latest figures from the Prime Minister's Department shows that Seri Perdana costs RM201 million while the Istana costs only RM120 million. While the Constitution did not make clear that the King's palace should be more expensive than that of the PM's, it is common sense that the current arrangement borders on some sort of 'symbolic usurpation'.

Despite the disparity in grandeur of the buildings for the executive, the parliament, and the King, as soon as the King's palace and the Parliament are relocated to Putrajaya, the role of KL as federal government capital ceases. Along with it goes the government's excuse for not allowing local representation in KL.

Expenditure outlays

The most compelling case for an elected Kuala Lumpur state legislature is to ensure accountability in the second largest sub-national government in Malaysia.

One of the best ways to compare the size of the governments is to compare their expenditure outlays. The budget of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for 2004 is RM2.074 billion. It is the second largest budget, next to Sarawak's RM3.29 billion. The DBKL budget is double that of Selangor, the country's most populous state, which only has RM1.019 billion allocations, and is twenty times that of Perlis' RM103 million budget. (see chart)

All state budgets are subject to the scrutiny and approval of their state legislature. Yet because KL does not have a state legislature, the KL Datuk Bandar is not obliged to disclose the full extent of the government outlays. He literally has a free hand to do whatever he likes with the huge sum of money, as long as he enjoys the favour of the Minister in Prime Minister's Department who is responsible for federal territories (currently Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor).

In the past, KL mayors normally sent their budget papers to KL's ten federal members of parliament on the day of his press conference to disclose budget details. The current mayor, Mohd Shaid Mohd Taufek pays no concern to such practices. In announcing the 2004 budget, the Datuk Bandar provided the press with an 8-page summary without going into details. Normally, a DBKL full budget paper would consist of at least 50 pages of explanation. Nothing was given to the MPs. What kind of transparency could the ordinary city dwellers expect from the Datuk Bandar if he did not even care to inform the MPs, six of which are members of the ruling Barisan Nasional?

"No taxation without representation" was the maxim of the Independence movement in United States. This maxim suits the KL case as well. Without the participation of the people, the KL government has no legitimacy to collect taxes. Enough is enough! Thirty years of deprivation of democratic rights should end immediately.

February 1 is not a time to celebrate "Federal Territory Day". It is a time for KL residents to call an end to the one-man rule of the Datuk Bandar. In his place, an elected state legislature of around 40 seats (each seat representing roughly 30,000 residents), with a chief minister and a cabinet chosen from the elected representatives should be established.

LIEW CHIN TONG is a research student at the Australian National University.