Media Statement by Lau Weng San in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 5^th June 2008: 

The current local councilor selection system inherited from BN is a system full of loopholes
 
One of the biggest challenges faced by Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is the accountability and transparency of local councils in Selangor. Since the political tsunami on 8th March 2008, Selangor PR state government not only has to resolve the long standing administrative problems in local councils, but also to immediately resolve the massive vacancies caused by the massive resignations of BN local councilors in Selangor.

It was not the intention of the Selangor PR government to change all 288 local councilors overnight in Selangor following our victory on 8th March. Due to the ruling that comes from BN central leadership that all BN local councilors in Perak, Kedah, Selangor and Penang must relinquish their positions, a huge vacuum was then created in local councils which needs urgent replacement to ensure smooth running of local councils.

Although it is never an easy task, PR state government still believes that the appointment of local councilors shall not follow the footpath of the previous regime, having understood that local councilors will play an even more important role to assist the new state government in delivering its electoral pledges to the people. Thus, the selection of councilors based on the current system is always a system involving various considerations.

Such system is also a system full of loopholes, and such system is also a system inherited from the previous regime. There are media reports recently that such system is a reward-based system and is open to abuse when politicians could easily plant their own cronies in councils. Such saying is not without truth but it is also unfair to accuse PR is planting our cronies in councils, because the system is designed such that it allow such abuses to take place. This is a system which we have never agreed upon even before we take over the state government and we are still disagreeing to such system.

Since we have inherited such system and we are doubly compounded with the sudden and massive resignation of BN councilors, PR has to continue with the old system.

It will be very necessary next for the state government to look into various ways and means to revive local government election. If such system were to be continued, it will bring more diasaters to PR. My personal observation is that PR cannot continue with such system for more than once and should immediately look into ways to revive local council election. It should be the people to decide who should be the councilors and not the politicians.

MCA ADUN for Kuala Kubu Baru Wong Koon Mun recently seems to be very interested to take PR to task on issues related to the selection of local councilors but unfortunately his observation is too narrow as he failed to understand the core issue that is the revival of local election. Even if he means his own words, he should have spoken about it during the just concluded State Assembly meeting instead of remaining silent inside the Assembly and reducing himself into a "write-statement-only" ADUN.

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* Lau Weng San, DAP Selangor Secretary & ADUN for Kampung Tunku