Local govt elections: Zuraida ready to ‘concede’ idea if PN says no
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin says she will “concede” her push for local government elections if the Perikatan Nasional government is against the idea.
“I will concede if the government is against holding them (local elections).
“I’ll concede but in future, there may be a need for it,”...
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin says she will “concede” her push for local government elections if the Perikatan Nasional government is against the idea.
“I will concede if the government is against holding them (local elections).
“I’ll concede but in future, there may be a need for it,” she was reported as saying by Free Malaysia Today.
As for public opposition from PN partners Umno, PAS and GPS to the idea, Zuraida said she had no control over their stance.
“I can’t stop them from saying what they want,” she said.
Last week, the minister told the Dewan Rakyat that a paper of local government elections will be presented mid-2021 for cabinet approval. At present, a policy and an operations committee are studying the idea. A pilot study is also in the works, she had said.
In her answer during the Question Time segment, she also noted that none of her Pakatan Harapan colleagues had defended her back when former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad opposed reintroducing such elections.
This prompted DAP to declare its “unwavering support” for Zuraida’s push for the third vote, an issue the Harapan component party has been championing for many years.
Proponents argue that local government elections will make local councils more accountable to taxpayers.
Its detractors, however, contend that such elections will heighten racial disparity on the basis Chinese Malaysians outnumber Malay and Indian Malaysians in urban areas.
