Local council elections may take years to set up, says minister

Low Han Shaun Low Han Shaun Updated 5 years ago · Published on 9 Jul 2018 5:55PM · 16 Comments

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad says it is possible the council elections will not be in place in time for the next general election. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, July 9, 2018.

FEDERAL Territories Minister Khalid Samad said the government was committed to bringing back local council elections for Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), but did not commit to a timeframe to do so.

Khalid said the process of setting up local elections for DBKL could take years, adding that it was possible the council elections would not be in place in time for the next general election.

“We don’t have a crystal ball. Maybe it will take three or five years, or maybe it will be the agenda for the next elections. I don’t know,” Khalid said at a press conference at DBKL’s office today.

“But we are committed to the democratisation of the public. We want to look at it step by step,” he said.

The first step, he said, was determining the Kuala Lumpur MPs’ role in DBKL as to how far they can advise on DBKL matters.

He said the grassroots will notify the MPs on issues, which will then be advised to the DBKL advisory board.

“The second step is to revise the DBKL advisory board and decide whether the people in it are suitable to be there to help the MPs to fulfil their responsibilities,” he said.

Currently, there are 11 Kuala Lumpur MPs and 14 people in the DBKL advisory board.

“Lastly, we need to educate the people on the local council elections and its role so that they will not be taken advantage of,” he said.

Khalid said he still hoped that the concept of local council elections will be accepted in five years’ time, at least by the Kuala Lumpur people and DBKL.

“(This is) so it will not cause doubt, tensions, or misunderstanding among the people.

“It is not something that is immediate, that can be done in 100 days or three years.

“But I hope in five years, the concept of local representation and elected representation in local councils will be accepted widely without issues of race, fear, and so on,” he said.

He said nothing was set in stone, but DBKL was certainly heading towards local council elections in the future.

“We may introduce it in stages, electing maybe 12 out of 24 local councillors, and appointing another 12, but leaving the mayor to still be appointed.

“It will be up for discussions at any time.

“We are going in that direction, but the timeframe is flexible. The immediate action will be to make sure the elected representatives are given a place in DBKL to speak out.” – July 9, 2018.

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Comments

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Dear Minister.....Where there is a will, There is a way. Please dont talk like your predecessor. Remember he was loathed....you dont want to tread the same path.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Oops....something went wrong. Multiple postings.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohamed Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • Khalid, please don't go back on your word. Keep your promise to hold local elections. The question you should ask is do you have the political will to see this happen? Or, its just mere words? If you don't you are the same of BN when you came into power. Before come into power dare to talk. After came into power, you changed your tone

    Posted 5 years ago by Peace Maker · Reply

  • These kinds of reasonings from the Minister is reminiscent of a past regime. If he is not up to the task for whatever reason, he should lay down his post and let others who are more up to the tasks at hand carry on the work. He sounds like he doesn't want to offend his dbkl buddies. This is the first chink in the ph armour as far as i am concerned. Maybe he should wait for the next GE before taking up a ministerial post if he wins.

    Posted 5 years ago by Jerome Er · Reply

  • This is terribly disappointing. If man can set a target, go to the moon and return, it is not rocket science to do ditto for a much smaller old habd project in this AI (Artificial Intelligence) era.

    As Alexander the Great said when told by his men on his wish to conquer Egypt:

    Men: But but General, it will take a long long tine fir us to conquer Egypt.

    Alexander stoically: Well, we have no time to waste then. We better start preparations now itself. Marco, you take charge of Intelligence; Augustus you take charge of ...........

    The rest including Alexandria abd many more up to India (and enough say Malay royalty/Iskandar) is history.

    Are you up for the job, Khalid?

    Posted 5 years ago by Bala Pillai · Reply

  • Come on man...

    Posted 5 years ago by Baba Blackship · Reply