Former Umno deputy minister Saifuddin Abdullah said states which want to conduct local government elections have to convince Malays that their rights won’t be affected.

“We can write papers to say that Malays shouldn’t be worried, that democracy is good. But the Malays need to be convinced that their rights will not be marginalised.”

He was speaking at the Local Government Roundtable Discussion organised by Suaram and supported by the state government in Penang today.

He cited a remark by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang ( photo ) that the party did not agree to local polls as it would see the council dominated by certain ethnic groups.

Saifuddin said that in the last national polls, 49 percent voted against Umno rather than for Pakatan Rakyat.

“If they want change, it does not come immediately and goes beyond just elections of local councillors,” said the CEO of Global Movement of Moderates.

To try and convince the Malays, Saifuddin suggested that training should be conducted on the participatory or consultation process.

He added that local government polls advocates must also do some marketing to tell people success stories and “announce a timeline for these activities before the prime minister announces another committee”.

Source of cronyism

Constitutional expert Aziz Bari said elections should go beyond local councils and be conducted at the village head level.

He added that the appointment of village heads by the state has become a source of cronyism.

“Villagers are facing problems where where they don’t get service, they do not know where to go to get their problems solved,” he said.

Aziz also said that the concept of panchayat or third tier of government as practised in India, is missing from the constitution.

“It’s a real shame that we in Malaysia do not provide this framework. We do not just need to do marketing but must provide for a regime change in Putrajaya,” he added.

Bar Council human rights committee chairperson Andrew Khoo ( photo ) proposed that the Penang government can perhaps reconsider the legal avenue again to push for local government.

He said one of the reasons why the federal court rejected Penang’s application to conduct local polls is because the state failed to show any evidence of consultation with the federal government.

“Penang needs to show real-life interest - create state level committees to have public debates and submissions on local government elections,” Khoo explained.

“These can be tabled at the National Council Consultation on Local Government chaired by the federal government, so that the judge cannot then ignore real-life evidence,” he added.

The three-hour session also heard suggestions from Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong, Machang Bubok assemblyman Lee Khai Loon, Penang Institute fellow Wong Chin Huat, Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism director Cynthia Gabriel, Aileron president Francis Loh and former civil servant and KJ John, who is a Malaysiakini columnist.

State executive councillor on local government Chow Kon Yeow was also present at the event, which was held to discuss further action by states, including Penang, which had reached a brickwall when the Federal Court rejected its application to hold the exercise.