The Pakatan Rakyat led-government has little choice but to approach the National Council for Local Election (NCLC) before polls can be called in their states.

The Penang and Selangor state governments must approach the NCLE before laws can be amended.

Penang Local Election Working Group committee member Dr Ong Hean Tee said the Penang state government has to follow due process and allow the law to be amended before local elections can be called for in the two states.

dap ipoh last ceramah 070308 crowd3 The group was established in June 2008 following the recommendations of the state government, and has nine members in its committee, comprising representatives from NGOs and civil society.

Ong concurred with the Election Commission's call for the Pakatan Rakyat governments to refer to the NCLE before the process can be initiated.

Ong, who is also Penang Environment Working Group chairperson, added that residents want local polls to be reinstated as they prefer their issues to be brought up through locally elected officials.

"However, this cannot happen unless the (Local Government) Act is amended by Parliament. This is a constitutional problem," he told Malaysiakini.

In the shadows of the federal gov't

"The perception here is that the state government has the authority to call for local elections, but unfortunately this is overridden by federal government rules and regulations," he said.

"Is the local authority really autonomous in deciding this matter? A study has to be done to rectify this ambiguity," he added.

Ong was responding to the statement by the Election Commission (EC) that it cannot hold local polls in the two PR governed state as it is bound by such laws as Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171).

The Act 171, among other things, states that local government polls have effectively been abolished.

However, the two governments can still bring up the matter with the National Council for Local Government (NCLG).

According to Article 95A of the Federal Constitution, any changes made to laws governing local government must first be approved by the NCLG.

What was undone can be revived

Meanwhile, Penang has urged the federal government to review the decision by the EC and also to amend the law to allow the state to conduct local elections.

NONE Penang state executive councillor for local government and traffic management Chow Kon Yeow ( right ) said the letter by EC dated March 23 to the state government in response to its request to restore local government elections had been a "great disappointment".

"It is under the Federal Constitution of Section 113 and Section 114 that the EC is responsible to conduct elections," he said in a statement to the media yesterday.

Chow said that although elections are regulated by the EC, as long as it is under the responsibility of the federal government, the political will for the return of local elections must come from the latter.

"Indeed, while conducting local government elections may be the state government's agenda, it is the prerogative of the federal government and EC to ensure that the election can be held," added Chow who is DAP MP for Padang Kota, Penang.

However, Kedah Gerakan Youth chief Tan Kheng Liang strongly condemned the harsh criticism hurled by several PR leaders at the EC decision.

"PR leaders must learn that decisions by the EC or any other federal or state authority are bound by the laws of our country," he said in a press statement.

"Thus, the criticism by PR that the EC is not independent in this issue clearly lacks substance," he added.