Third vote to give Chinese political control? Proponents tell facts from myth
But the fact that this agenda has not taken place in states controlled by Pakatan Harapan — which included DAP — dispelled such claims, argued former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.
(MMO) – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s choice of DAP leader Nga Kor Ming to head the Ministry of Housing and Local Government has drawn quick but predictable claims this was to revive local council elections and pave the way for “Chinese political control”.
Barely 24 hours after Anwar’s 28-member Cabinet was announced, PAS mouthpiece Harakah daily published an article that repeated the usual trope about a purported DAP agenda to control the country’s major cities and towns through city councils.
The author of the article, Fairuz Hafiiz Othman, who is the secretary of the party’s Perak chapter, suggested Anwar’s selection of Nga was not a coincidence and that the DAP had likely lobbied for the post as part of “a big mission to politically dominate the major urban areas”.
The narrative has long been the basis for the opposition to the “third vote” ever since it was suspended in 1964. What mainly fuelled this concern was the sizable population of ethnic Chinese in major cities and towns. At the time, Malays predominantly resided in the outskirts.
But the fact that this agenda has not taken place in states controlled by Pakatan Harapan — which included DAP — dispelled such claims, argued former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.
In Selangor, for example, Ong noted that the distribution of councillors has been reflected the demographics of the district.
“I do not think PAS or Perikatan Nasional can point to any places where the Chinese councillors are over represented. In any case, what is important is not necessarily the race of the council members or the mayor but whether he or she can do the job well,” he told Malay Mail.
“For example, in the Klang Municipal Council (MPKJ), there is a Malay councillor by the name of Lily (under the DAP quota) who takes care of Sungai Chua, which is a 90 per cent Chinese area. The local population have no problems with her as their councillor, she speaks fluent Mandarin.”
Demographic shift
Under the current system, councillors that represent local governments within a state are appointed by the respective governing political parties.
PH and the DAP have controlled Selangor and Penang since 2008 but the city councils in these are evenly represented across ethnicities, even in zones and municipalities that tend to be disproportionately populated by a certain ethnicity, coalition leaders have often pointed out in response to claims that Chinese DAP leaders control these areas.
