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Set a timetable for restoration of
local government elections
Press Statement
by
Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling
Jaya, Monday):
The
scandal of Abdul Kudus-MPAJ has highlighted the seriousness of
unaccountability and lack of transparency of the local councils in the
country. Many people are fed up with the lackadaisical (tidak apa)
attitude, poor service and level of corruption and abuse of power on the
part of local council officials. And there is really nothing to shout about
as far as the performance of the councillors is concerned.
The call for restoration of local
government elections is getting more and more support from the people, but
no one will believe that the present set of BN Federal Government leaders
would give it a go, at least not in the near future. This is simply because
they have no confidence in winning such local elections.
But even countries like Afghanistan,
Iraq and China practice local government elections. How long more could the
BN leaders prevent the democratisation process from taken place in Malaysia?
Malaysia cannot be called a true and complete democracy as long as we do not
even have local government elections.
May be we should start with the
election of mayor for Kuala Lumpur. Or start appointing some elected
representatives from the opposition parties into the DBKL and other town
councils.
It's therefore pertinent to set a
timetable for the eventual goal of local government elections. We need to
start from somewhere, and set a date for such reform.
We could target the next general
election as a starting point. We need a stronger opposition in order to
achieve real checks and balances. Only a much stronger support and mandate
given to the opposition could possibly drive the ruling parties to seriously
consider the restoration of local government elections.
Once we have a bigger voice from the
opposition, Malaysians can then start calling for appointment of elected
representatives of both ruling and opposition parties into various local
councils.
We should also target for the election
of mayor for Kuala Lumpur by the end of 2004. If cities like New York,
Paris, Tokyo and London can have elections for their mayors, why can't we?
Otherwise we should stop shouting "Malaysia Boleh" once and for all.
Such reforms and new measures may not
be able to bring about great changes to local councils overnight. But these
would certainly bring positive changes and benefits in the long run.
We may then be a able to prevent crazy
things like spending millions on fancy street lights and lamp-poles (in
Putrajaya and the rest of the country), mega billboards featuring the
portraits of MB and other BN elected representatives all over Selangor,
special uniforms for YDP and councillors for MPK (Klang), plastic palm trees
and metallic structures for parks and gardens in Subang Jaya (aren't we live
in a tropical country?), approving a hotel next to a roundabout in SS2 the
list is endless.
And we probably need not to wait for
too long before the rubbish was collected, the clogged drains were cleared,
the potholes were filled once we have greater checks and balances in these
local councils.
With better enforcement and planning
all round, the ordinary folks may even have cleaner toilets to use when we
visit restaurants and coffee shops, better football fields and basketball
courts for our children, more street lights for better security at nights,
and even less traffic jams, if one realises that it's the duty and
responsibility of your local council to plan and maintain road systems.
Before we can restore local government
elections, we should start calling the local councils to save taxpayers
money by taking down the mega bill boards that carry email and telephone
numbers serving no purpose (because no one would answer your calls or
emails), stop adding on more fancy and decorative lights, and stop sending
big delegations to South Africa for the so-called study tours.
(7/7/2003)
* Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP
National Publicity Secretary
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http://dapmalaysia.org