No reviving of local elections as it will be too expensive, Parliament told

 

PARLIAMENT | Putrajaya has no plan to revive local council elections due to the expensive cost and also because such elections may not necessarily bring about councillors who will provide the best services for the people.

In a written parliamentary yesterday, Housing and Local Government Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican estimated the holding of elections for 151 local authorities would cost RM302 million.

"The proposal to revive local council elections was part of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto (in 2018). However, the cabinet on July 17, 2020, agreed that this proposal need not be continued.

"The government of the day does not plan to implement local government elections. This is because the existing system of appointing local councillors has been running well.

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"Local elections will involve a large allocation as the implementation cost will be very high. The cost is estimated at RM2 million for each local government council and RM302 million for all 151 local councils," Reezal Merican said.

The cost does not include the hidden costs needed to be borne by other relevant agencies, including the police and the People's Volunteer Corps (Rela), he said.

The minister added: "If the local election is implemented every two years, this focus on providing services to the people will be affected as too much time and energy is devoted to the election campaign process.

"So far, local authorities can still provide the best service to the people without local elections, and the implementation of a local election is not a guarantee to ensure that.

"Under the current system, local councillors who do not perform well can be dropped or not reappointed after their term expires."

Training provided to the appointed local councillors

Reezal Merican said training is provided to the local councillors annually through the cooperation of the ministry's Training Institute and the Local Government Department.

"We are developing guidelines for the appointment of local councillors. Among others, the appointment of local councillors must meet the criteria of appointment period, academic qualifications or professional experience, community composition such as race, gender and minorities.

"We encourage local government councils to live stream their full board meetings to allow the people to jointly participate in the governance of local authorities. So far, 16 local authorities have live-streamed their full board meetings," he told Maria Chin Abdullah (Harapan-Petaling Jaya).

Pakatan Harapan's Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah

Maria had asked if the government has any plan to hold local council elections and its intention to build a modern nation that upholds the concept of democracy and community empowerment.

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.

During the 2008 and 2013 general elections, the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat had pledged to reinstate local council elections.

For the record, Pakatan Harapan did not promise in its 2018 election manifesto to restore local government elections 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 1976 to reflect these aspirations.

However, Reezal Merican's predecessor Zuraida Kamaruddin said in May 2018 that local council elections could be held within three years.

Her plan was shot down by the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who cited concerns that it could result in differences among the races, as well as between urban and rural dwellers.