KUALA LUMPUR – Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 has renewed calls for local government elections to be reintroduced, after the third vote was suspended in 1964.
In a research report it commissioned entitled Reintroduction of Local Government Elections in Malaysia, which was released today, it noted several reasons why the elections should be reinstated.
These include ensuring the accountability of local councils, combating and disincentivising corruption, providing bottom-up leadership for localised areas, decentralising federal and state powers, and empowering the true roles of MPs and state assemblymen.
It should have been implemented some time this year as part of the Pakatan Harapan election manifesto, but is no longer the case following the change of government.
Noting that it has been close to 60 years since the last local council election was held, Bersih’s report gave particular mention of the concerns that have been raised throughout the years relating to the third vote, and explained why these are inaccurate.
Potential monopolisation of non-Malays in urban areas
The report acknowledged a major concern that non-Malays will monopolise local governments in city areas, may cause ethnic related conflicts and will polarise Malaysia as voters in urban areas will vote along communal lines.
The document, however, pointed out that Malaysia has moved on to become a very urbanised society in recent years, with the Bumiputeras also constituting the majority of these urban areas, unlike in the past.
“In 2010, the Malays already formed the majority population in the majority of the municipal councils and half of the city councils in Peninsular Malaysia.
“The narrative that ‘Malays would be marginalised by local elections’ is an outdated and unfounded political myth,” it said, while dismissing concerns of dominance of certain political parties in local elections.
Prohibitive costs of conducting the election
Another concern noted in Bersih’s report is that it may be too costly to conduct polls for local governments, especially as the economy is not particularly doing well.
Bersih argued that while it could be expensive to hold the election, the peril of unelected local council holding office outweighs the costs.
Citing the cases of water disruptions in Selangor, the report said this highlighted the failure of local councils in tackling the issue and tolerance for illegal factories by council members.
To mitigate the cost of elections, Bersih proposed rental exemptions for polling facilities, sharing of election costs (like polling staff salaries) by local councils, and trialling elections at the city hall and council levels first.
Erosion of state governments’ powers
One other concern that was highlighted in the report is that reinstating local council elections will weaken state governments and erode their already-limited powers.
The document pointed out that such concerns are only raised due to a more centralised policy of the federal government, resulting in it having some control on state corporations, organisational overlaps, and duplications at the lowest levels of administration.
To address the matter, the report suggested the devolution of powers and according more autonomy to states, including on matters pertaining to social welfare, public transportation and education, and by allowing states to have greater access to financial resources.
“In short, instead of perceiving an empowered local council as a threat to state governments’ powers, decentralisation is badly needed to empower state and local governments,” it said. – The Vibes, January 20, 2021
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