The long wait to know whether Penang can hold local government elections for its two municipal councils will end this Thursday when the Federal Court is set to announce its "landmark" decision on the matter.

The Federal Court will decide on a petition filed by the Penang government and former Aliran president P Ramakrishnan to allow for local council elections to be conducted in the state.

State executive member Chow Kon Yeow told reporters during a press conference today that the matter had been conveyed to the state government by its lawyer Tommy Thomas.

He said the decision was initially postponed after a hearing was conducted by a panel of five judges led by Court of Appeal president Md Raus Shariff on April 9 in Putrajaya.

"Whether we win or lose, it will become a landmark judgement for this issue," Chow said, stating that local elections have not been held since 1965.

"It will be a landmark decision at this point of time as the government can amend the law in future.

"If we lose, then it is the end of the struggle on the legal aspect but we can still campaign politically," Chow said.

He, however, cautioned that the federal government has shown no intention to restore local polls.

Ramakrishnan and the state government filed the petition on March 11, last year, for Penang to be allowed to hold local council elections, while the federal government and Election Commission (EC) were named as respondents.

Chow ( right, in picture ) said the petition was in line with the state government's stand that local elections can be conducted by the state under Schedule 9 of the federal constitution.

He added that the Penang legislative assembly has jurisdiction under the constitution to allow the Election Commission to call for local polls.

Chow said on May 9, 2012, the state legislative assembly approved a Local Government Elections Enactment (Penang and Seberang Perai) Bill, which was later gazetted, and was supposed to be enforced from Jan 31 onwards.

"However, when the Penang government notified the Election Commission through a letter on Dec 18, 2012, that the Enactment would be enforced on Jan 31, the next year, we did not receive any response from the EC, whether it would assist in the running of the polls," Chow lamented.

Following this, the Penang government had file the petition for Federal Court to declare that Section 15 of the 1976 Local Government Act, which bans local polls in the country, is invalid and not applicable in Penang, he explained further.

"We are also seeking a declaration from the Federal Court that our 2012 Enactment is valid and allows the EC to conduct local elections in Penang," Chow added.