Civil society groups today called on all the 12 newly formed state governments to prioritise local council elections in their agenda.

Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng told a press conference today that a memorandum endorsed by 33 civil society organisations will be sent to all 12 state governments requesting local council elections to be carried out on or before 2010.

suaram local election pc 280308 yap swee seng He said expectation was now high to push for local elections since the opposition has pledged to restore them through their manifestos before the general election.

"Ever since the BN had the two-third majority, there was no response to the demand. With the recent election results, we are making similar demands to the opposition parties." said Yap.

Presents at the press conference today were Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan (Permas) president Tan Jo Hann, Empower representatives Pook Li Yoon and Andrew Khoo, a lawyer.

According to Yap, since many local councillors including village heads have resigned after the elections, the new state governments should consider proportional representation in the local councils based on the votes received by both opposition and ruling parties during the general election.

Although ideally, all the NGOs agreed that there should not be political representatives in local councils, they’re also asking the state governments to adopt aspects of good governance proposed in the memorandum.

The mood is right

Among others, the memorandum proposes that any political representative appointed must be competent and capable of representing the interest of the community.

Yap added the composition of political appointees should also reflect the diversity of interests in the communities.

Meanwhile, Andrew Khoo stressed that society at large must get used to the concept of power sharing power among political parties even at local council level for a healthier political system.

Acknowledging that amendment to the laws or enactments of new laws may be necessary, Khoo said the matter must be studied thoroughly and that state governments be given some time to bring back local elections.

"It’s time to bring this back. People are much more mature, and able to make rationale decision. The mood is right," he pointed out.

suaram local election pc 280308 group It has been over 40 years since the government outlawed local council elections through the Local Government Act 1976. Local polls were suspended following the declaration of emergency on Sept 3, 1964, which remains in force.

The call to have local council elections reinstated have grown louder in recent years due to an increasing reports and complaints on alleged poor administration and weak financial management.

Powers of local councils

Commenting on the recent resignation of the BN-appointed 814 village heads in Perak, Tan Jo Hahn said they welcomed the decision although it was wrong of them to claim that they were serving the ruling party.

"We welcome the resignation. We should not have these people. They have shown their true colours. Let others take over," he said.

Jo Hann claimed the resignation proved that the village heads are worried about being checked by the new state administration for possible ‘misdeeds’.

It was reported that Perak MB Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin had promised that they could remain in their posts until the end of this year and no one would be forced to resign.

Jo Hann, whose organisation works with squatters, said people affected by policies made by the governments should have a say on who they want to be in the local council.

He added that many people are unaware of the powers of the local councils other than ‘sweeping the floor’.

"Do you know that DBKL has spent RM 94 million to train their officers in social ethics? What is that? For this simple reason alone, the rakyat should know where their money goes." said Jo Hann.

Opposition parties have pledges to support the reinstatement of local council elections in their election manifestos during the general election. To date, only DAP has begun initiatives to fulfil the party’s promises.