At the DAP Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory State Convention yesterday (2nd November 2014), DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng mooted the idea of a state government for Kuala Lumpur.
I would like to echo to the call of Sdr. Lim Guan Eng and call on the voters of Kuala Lumpur to have a serious debate on the merits of a state government for Kuala Lumpur to chart a new chapter for Kuala Lumpur for the next 40 years.
Kuala Lumpur was carved out from Selangor in 1974 to prevent the recurrence of a hung Selangor Assembly in 1969 when the Alliance government and the Opposition each won 14 seats.
The idea then was to permanently prevent the fall of Selangor to the Opposition by disenfranchising the voters of Kuala Lumpur from their right to vote for a state government.
So much water has passed under the bridge that currently, the Opposition in Selangor is now Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat has been in government in Selangor for two consecutive elections since 2008 and 2013.
It’s time to chart the next phase of Kuala Lumpur via a new state government.
In terms of budgetary size, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur has the largest sub-national governmental budget in Peninsula with RM 2.79 billion in 2014. The next largest state budget in Peninsula is that of Selangor’s at RM 1.85 billion in 2014.
Budget for Sarawak was at RM5.96 billion and Sabah at RM 4.62 billion in 2014.
If Perlis can form a state government with a budget of less than RM100 million per annum, there is no reason why Kuala Lumpur voters cannot be granted a chance to vote for their own state government.
Most great capital cities in democracies have elected governors or mayors or city governments. Political leadership is sorely lacking in Kuala Lumpur and there is a need to inject a sense of purpose into governance in our beloved capital city.