Banting assemblyperson Lau Weng San said today that he is concerned by Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin's parliamentary written replies that local elections cannot be held within the next three years.

According to Lau, Zuraida's explanation was that the government needed to conduct further studies on the relevant legal provisions, on top of the huge expenses likely to be incurred at a time when Putrajaya is tightening its belt.

However, the DAP lawmaker said the issue of cost can be addressed by conducting local elections in certain states first.

"If the federal government is indeed facing financial difficulty in conducting local elections, the government can consider sharing the cost with various state governments. 

"The huge expenses incurred for the 2016 Sarawak state election may not be relevant to states like Selangor or Penang, as the two states are relatively smaller and more advanced in terms of communication and physical infrastructure," he said in a statement.

"Moreover, the two states also have a long-standing history of supporting local government elections since 2008. 

"I personally wish that local government elections can still be conducted in certain states in Malaysia within one year from now," he added.

Lau also urged Zuraida to clarify what other legislative changes were necessary, apart from repealing Section 14 of the Local Government Act 1976 and reviving the Local Government Election Act 1960.

Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1972 concerns provisions relating to local government elections ceasing to have effect.