In this video, which is Part 1 of 2, several local councilors gave their perspective on local government polls and also why they would prefer being elected to being appointed.
In Part 2, Derek John Fernandez, an urban planning lawyer and a councillor with Petaling Jaya city council shares some methods and avenues to bring about a people-elected and represented local council.
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A few days before Pakatan Rakyat celebrated the second anniversary of its takeover of the Penang state government in March 2008, its chief minister announced that the state had sent a letter to the Election Commission (EC) asking the commission to conduct elections for two municipal councils in the Penang state.
Soon after, Pakatan-held Selangor state government also committed to local council elections in the state and had informed the EC of the same.
The resurrection of local government elections was a 2008 general election pledge given by the Pakatan component parties.
Najib Abdul Razak came out strongly against restoring the local council elections deeming the third vote unnecessary. He said it would cause too much politicking. He said that instead of electing the local government representatives, the focus should be on improving services of local authorities and providing the best service to the people.
Without any discussions held with the two state governments, Elections Commission (EC) chief Abdul Aziz stated that the EC cannot conduct local polls as it is bound by laws such as the Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171) which states that local government polls have effectively been abolished. He asked the two state governments to bring up the matter with the National Council for Local Government.
There are obviously more speculations as to the real reasons why the current BN federal government is adamant in opposing the third vote.
R. Vijay Kumar, a Citizen Journalist, met several local councillors from the state of Selangor to get their thoughts and expert opinions of the issue, and thus this 2-parts video.
Video by R. Vijay Kumar, Citizen Journalist
CJMY
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