PARLIAMENT | The Housing and Local Government Ministry is expected to present its paper on reinstating local government elections for Cabinet approval before the year-end, said deputy minister Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah.
He told the Dewan Rakyat during the question and answer session this morning that the ministry is still drafting the paper and consulting stakeholders on the matter.
Raja Kamarul said the ministry has also identified laws which must be in place for the implementation of local government elections following three workshops with relevant stakeholders.
This, he added, included reactivating the Local Government Election Act 1960 and amending the Local Government Act 1976.
He said the ministry had conducted comprehensive studies on how Commonwealth countries such as India and Australia as well as non-Commonwealth countries like the US had implemented their local elections.
"This (local election) will not be implemented in the near future," he told Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang).
On May 1, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said she expected the government would amend several laws in Parliament as early as the end of 2020 to reintroduce local government elections.
The last local government elections in Malaysia took place in 1963. The elections for 1964 and 1965 were suspended with the official reason stated as Indonesia's confrontation with Malaysia.
The suspension became permanent after Parliament passed the Local Government Act 1976, which only provided for appointed councillors.
In December last year, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had shot down the revival of the local government polls, citing concerns that it could result in differences among the races as well as between urban and rural dwellers.
Despite this, Zuraida said her ministry would continue to explore ways to implement the elections while taking into consideration sensitivities and sentiments.
[More to follow] - Mkini
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