GE15 - No promise to restore DEMOCRACY at Local Government - i.e. Local Council Elections. PH promises 'Promise 25 - To strengthen the role and power of Local Authorities' - and do not talk about people electing their representatives to Local Government...
No Local Council Elections - WHY? When earlier PKR and DAP(and PAS), when they were PR was all about RESTORING local government elections, yes "RESTORING" as we had them since Independence, when the BN abolished it in the 60s. Note> even ADUNs and MPs now are not in Loacl Government/Councils > Do our democratic choices not matter?
The last local government elections were held in 1963 under the Local Government Elections Act 1960. However, they were suspended after the Confrontation with Indonesia pursuant to the Emergency (Suspension of Local Government Elections) Regulations 1965 and Emergency (Suspension of Local Government Elections) (Amendment) Regulations 1965 made under the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1964.
Since then, councillors have been appointed by state authorities. The 1965 regulations were extended after the May 13, 1969 incident pursuant to Section 6 of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1979, which provides that regulations made under the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1964 shall remain in force as if they had been made under the 1979 Act.
Is LOCAL GOVERNMENT(or Local Councils) important? YES, it is BUT now the State Government(or Federal Government) appoints - people do not have the right to democratically vote >>> this means State(or Federal Government) 'STOLE" the peoples' democratic rights.
WHY WOULD THEY NOT GIVE 'DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS" BACK TO the people?
Well, Local Government(Local Councils) make BIG MONEY, and has the responsibility of governing their area - they can decide on which projects/development/business/ is allowed and which are not, they are also responsible for the UPKEEP of their area - they maintain/upkeep common areas, signboards, Gardens/Park, roads in your housing area, etc. LOOK around your town, and are the road dividers maintained, signboards in your Taman..
They make BIG MONEY - every premises have to pay 'taxes' to the Local Authority, businesses to have to pay to Local Authority to operate, signboards, etc, Parking Fees, etc
So, no elections as the State/Federal Government prefers to APPOINT YES-MEN, who will not OBJECT to their requests - Something that a Democratically elected Local Government, truly representing the people may do.
Do the STATE/FEDERAL government also 'STEAL' local authority's money - maybe directly, or other creative ways like projects to the State's cronies. Over the years, some of the responsibilities of Local Authorities have been 'taken over' - Garbage Collection, Grass cutting, etc
Now, for many, the Local Government(Council) is nothing but another State(or Federal) Department > GIVE US BACK OUR DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT NOW.
I wonder, whether if we had a democratically elected LOCAL GOVERNMENT, permission would be granted for LYNAS?
The State Government is responsible for the entire State...the LOCAL GOVERNMENT is responsible for the AREA of the Local Government, and for the people in the area, the Local Government can do much much more...
What arguments used to avoid Local Council elections?
The RACE issue > see towns are full of non-Malays, so the Local Council may end up being dominated by NON-MALAYS. ABSURD, as the citizens in the AREA of any Local Government is everyone staying within the area, and so it will not happen. Further, there will be constituencies drawn out for LOCAL Council elections.
It will cost more than RM300mil to hold local council elections nationwide, says Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
"With regards to the cost implications, it is estimated that it will cost about RM2mil to hold elections for a single local authority. It would cost about RM308mil to hold elections for all 154 local authorities in the country," she said in the Dewan Rakyat in reply to a question raised by Wong Hon Wai (PH-Bukit Bendera) Tuesday (July 14)..."When I brought this up during the previous administration, YB Langkawi (former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) was against it, yet none of you from the other side dared support me although it was part of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto," she retorted.- Star, 14/7/2020
The Housing and Local Government Ministry is expected to amend several laws in Parliament as early as the end of 2020 to reinstate local government elections, its minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said.
These include the Local Government Act 1976 and other relevant laws, said Zuraida, who pledged in May 2018 to restore the voting system for local councils in three years.
"Somewhere around next year, by end of next year or early 2021, I am going to table the amendments to these laws with regard to local government elections.
"Whether we will achieve it or not, it is secondary. We (will) table the motions on the Acts of Parliament first," she said in a group interview in conjunction with the one-year anniversary of the Pakatan Harapan administration.
To a question, the Ampang MP said she wasn't sure if the local government elections can be implemented earlier than the targeted timeline.
According to her, the matter is subject to the cabinet's decision and the cabinet has yet to discuss this matter.
The ministry can only present a paper to the cabinet for discussion after it puts together all the information needed to push for the local government elections. .- Malaysiakini, 1/5/2019
SO, the real reason is the PREFERENCE to appoint 'your people' who then can be controlled - if you OPPOSE, the State will simply appoint another.
Umno and PAS are up in arms against fellow Perikatan Nasional minister Zuraida Kamaruddin's push for local government elections.
"I want to stress in this House, Selangor PAS and Umno reject local government elections."Whose manifesto is this? This is Harapan's manifesto... Please minister, announce that the PN government plans to cancel local government elections, please, so those of us down here are calm," he [Noh (BN-Tanjung Karang)] said.Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi from GPS, and Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PAS-Pasir Putih) also voiced objections to local government elections.. - Malaysiakini, 15/7/2020
PEOPLE CLAIM THE RIGHT TO CHOSE OUR OWN LOCAL GOVERNMENT - then we will have elected 'wakil rakyat' responsible for the different areas we live in within the Local Government > after all this LOCAL GOVERNMENT wakil rakyat are the one's with the power and ability to deal with local issues > it is NOT MPs or even ADUNs.
Why is the mental dividers rusting? Why is the Taman Road signboard not repaired? Why is the pothole on our Taman Road not working? Why the traffic light not working? >>> Well, the political appointed Local Government representatives simply not bothered(or maybe State government told them not to do anything,...) - A democratically local government representative will not RISK offending the people in the area/the VOTERS with the power to vote them out.
SADLY, the BN, PN, PH and ... not interested in RESTORING Local Government(Council Elections) - should we show them this elections. Whoever can promise restoring Local Council elections will get our VOTE.
DAP and PKR blamed a FEDERAL LAW prevented them holding local council elections - simply amend it in Parliament, and no more HURDLES, is there?
Which party believes it TRUE DEMOCRACY. Do you know, that now even your Ketua Taman, kampung, kampung baru are politically appointed - not democratically elected by the people.
People MUST be consulted on decisions that affect their town, area - but we are denied that right. Possibly the politically appointed Concillors, even our politically appointed Taman/Kampung/Kampung Baru leaders are saying 'YES" as the peoples' representatives without any real peoples' participation on decision making..
Local Council meetings supposed to be OPEN to public but they 'closed' it, No minutes disclosed, no income/expense accounts > what happens to the hundreds/thousands collected from us by the Local Government - are we happy being not bothered and kept in the dark?
See earlier posts:-
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