Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said last Saturday that the state government had written to EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof on March 4 to conduct local government elections for the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) and the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP).

Written by Chan Kok Leong, The Edge

Despite earlier apprehensions about Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) intentions on local council elections, Selangor on March 7 became the second state to move towards fulfilling the coalition's  2008 election pledge.

Following closely on the heels of Penang, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said his government would also write to the Election Commission (EC) to restore the third vote.

PAS-led Kedah and Kelantan are the only PR states yet to announce their intentions.

“We have already announced that we will be writing to the EC to determine what their response is to Penang’s call to hold local government elections,” Khalid told reporters after opening the coalition’s Selangor convention on March 7.

“There are many aspects of the law which are still unclear and it is better to clear up the uncertainty first,” said Khalid.

“So we will proceed in an orderly manner, with the Penang state government, to inform the EC that we want local government elections to be restored.”

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said last Saturday that the state government had written to EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof on March 4 to conduct local government elections for the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) and the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP).

DAP had promised to restore local council elections while the coalition had promised to “strengthen local government democracy” when it unveiled its Common Policy Framework last December.

There are 12 councils in Selangor where the maximum number of councillors that can be appointed is 24, with one to be appointed by the Sultan.

The first-ever elections held in the country was for the Municipal Council of George Town on Dec 1, 1951.

The last local government elections were held in 1961 before they were suspended in 1965.

According to PKR vice-president and human rights lawyer R Sivarasa, there are no explicit prohibitions in the Local Government Act 1976 to stop local government elections.

“As the EC is the custodian of elections, we will ask it for its advice on how to proceed on this matter,” he said.

The Subang member of parliament said the state may have to amend its laws to allow for local council elections.

Article 113 (4) of the Federal Constitution also provides that the EC can be authorised by state or federal law to hold elections other than for parliament or state assemblies.

For PAS political bureau member Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, local council elections were the right thing to do as 70% of those polled said that they were in favour of having more say in local matters.

The Kuala Selangor MP also refuted claims that the Islamic party was against local elections for fear that it could lose control of city councils to non-Malays.

“There is some fear of the unknown for PAS but there is still room for a form of hybrid system,” he explained.

“Instead of having full elections for all council seats, maybe some can appointed while others are elected. A transition process from a hybrid system to a full election process can help ease the fears some PAS members have,” he added. 

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