KUALA LUMPUR – It is not unreasonable to hold local polls for residents in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya to pick their representatives to serve in the local councils, said Muda federal territories (FT) division.
It also calls for amendments in the legislation that empowers the mayors, as well as for them to be elected, not appointed.
This is because the councils’ inadequacies to resolve issues faced by the residents will eventually fall on the respective MP, it said in a statement today.
“The voice and concerns of the people in the federal territories are currently being addressed by MPs. However, the daily problems of local governments are not MPs’ main responsibilities.
“City councils are tasked to serve hundreds of thousands of residents and manage an annual outcome of at least RM100 million. The result of a system where there is no accountability to taxpayers is corruption.”
It added that with local polls, residents and voters could monitor and hold elected representatives accountable, thus improving the administrations in the city hall here and the Putrajaya Corporation.
FT Muda’s calls for local election come on the heels of the announcement of Kuala Lumpur’s incoming mayor, Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh.
Previously, law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said explained that local elections could not be held in the federal territories due to a legal limitation in the law stipulating that the appointment of Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) commissioners is at the sole discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
She said this is part of the provision of the Federal Capital Act 1960 (Act 190), the main legislative document which oversees matters concerning DBKL and the Kuala Lumpur mayor.
She added that this is unlike other local councils in the country, which are governed by the Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171).
Section 4 of the act states that the commissioner of the city of Kuala Lumpur, also known as the mayor, shall be appointed by the Agong for a term of five years, unless his majesty, in any particular case, determines a shorter period.
It also stipulates that the commissioner shall hold office upon such conditions as determined by the king.
The last local elections were suspended in the 1960s.
Also, election watchdog Bersih 2.0 in 2021 released a report urging the return of local elections, saying it would ensure the accountability of local councils, combat and disincentivise corruption, provide bottom-up leadership for localised areas, decentralise federal and state powers, and empower true roles of MPs and state assemblymen. – The Vibes, April 14, 2023
