Reviving local gov't polls: Ministry to present paper to cabinet by year-end
PARLIAMENT | The Housing and Local Government Ministry is expected to present its paper on reinstating local government elections for Cabinet approval before the year ends, deputy minister Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah said.
He told the Dewan Rakyat during the question-and-answer session this morning that the ministry is still drafting the paper and consulting stakeholders on the matter...
PARLIAMENT | The Housing and Local Government Ministry is expected to present its paper on reinstating local elections for cabinet approval before the end of the year, according to deputy minister Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad.
As Raja Bahrin told the Dewan Rakyat during the question-and-answer session this morning, the paper is still being drafted and stakeholders are still being consulted on the matter.
He added that his ministry has also identified laws that must be in place for the implementation of local elections, following three workshops held with the relevant stakeholders.
This, he added, included reactivating the Local Government Election Act 1960 and amending the Local Government Act 1976.
He said the ministry had conducted comprehensive studies on how Commonwealth countries such as India and Australia, as well as others like the US implemented their local elections.
"This (local elections) will not be implemented in the near future," Raja Bahrin told Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang).
On May 1, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin (photo) said she expected the government to amend several laws in Parliament as early as the end of 2020 to reintroduce local government elections.
The last local government elections in Malaysia took place in 1963. The elections for 1964 and 1965 were suspended with the official reason stated as Indonesia's confrontation with Malaysia.
The suspension became permanent after Parliament passed the Local Government Act 1976, which only provided for appointed councillors.
In December last year, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad shot down the revival of the local government polls, citing concerns that it could result in differences among the races, as well as between urban and rural dwellers.
Despite this, Zuraida said her ministry would continue to explore ways to implement the elections, while taking sensitivities and sentiments into consideration.
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