Give FT minister time to consider local election proposal: Fahmi

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa should be given time to consider a proposal to bring back the local election, said government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil.

This comes after a DAP leader yesterday suggested restoring the local council election for locals to have a democratic say in how the capital city is run.

Fahmi (above) called on the public to be patient on the matter and revealed that he had discussed the matter with Zaliha earlier today.

“This is a major policy decision that is not to be taken lightly and I believe that we have an internal process. So, we need to assess and view the entire matter together," he was quoted as saying by FMT.

The communications minister added that 95 to 97 percent of some 6,000 strata properties throughout Kuala Lumpur did not conduct their annual general meetings in 2018.

Fahmi said this not only affected the local government election but hyper-local elections as well.

At present, Kuala Lumpur only has MPs, and the federal government runs Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

In calling for the return of the local council election, Federal Territory DAP chairperson Tan Kok Wai said it will lead to a sustainable capital city - one that practices effective, clean, and people-centric governance.

His suggestion led to the ire of several Umno leaders who deemed the proposal provocative, adding that the party would never agree to it.

Umno Veterans’ Association chief Mustapha Yaakub said such an election would lead to Malays losing power whereas Umno Youth chief Dr Mohamad Akmal Saleh said that the proposal could trigger disharmony among Malaysians.

“This is not a DAP government, but one which is formed with the presence of Umno, and so we will not compromise on any decisions that affect the interests of Islam, Malays and the Malay rulers,” he added.

Different opinions

Despite the criticism, Fahmi insisted that the coalition government remains united.

Differences in opinion, he said, were to be expected as parties have different stances and views, adding that the government had systems in place to deal with this.

"In the unity government leadership consultative council, we have a committee that discusses the manifestos (of all parties in the government).

"That is a platform built for purpose, fit for purpose where we would scrutinise policy issues including manifestos.

"It is important because when we formed the government, it was made of different parties. We celebrate differences in opinion and our leadership is mature enough and we have processes in place to discuss," he was quoted as saying by NST.

The last time Malaysia held a local council election was in 1963. The next round, which was supposed to be held the following year, was suspended.

The temporary suspension became permanent in 1976 when Parliament passed the Local Government Act resulting in the abolishment of the local government election altogether and only provided for the appointment of local councillors.

The now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat had pledged to reinstate the local council election during the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

Pakatan Harapan's 14th general election manifesto in 2018 did not promise to restore local government election but stated that it would “strengthen local democracy” and make local councils more accountable to the people they serve.

It also promised to amend the Local Government Act to reflect these aspirations.

During the 2022 general election, Harapan pledged to let KL-ites have a democratic say in how the Kuala Lumpur City Hall is run, but stopped short of pledging local council election outright.

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