PAKATAN Harapan has formed the Federal Territories Council to engage city folk and address their complaints on a variety of issues, said Khalid Samad.

The Federal Territories minister said during the previous Barisan Nasional administration, little feedback was received from stakeholders on what was expected of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). 

PH now hopes the council will provide city folk with a platform to air their views and grouses.

Khalid said the council comprises 11 Federal Territory MPs, DBKL representatives and members from various levels of management from the Federal Territories.

“We will discuss DBKL policy. This is unprecedented as we are giving elected representatives a say in the city’s policies,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

In the absence of local government elections, this would be one way for the community to engage with its elected representatives.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin had previously said that local government elections would take place in three years.

Khalid said each of the 11 parliamentary constituencies would be divided into six districts, with each district appointed chairman who will lead the effort to collate feedback from residents.

“After understanding the issues at hand, the findings of the six district chairmen can then be submitted to the MPs, and the MPs can bring it up in the council for discussion,” Khalid said.

The minister said this move showed that the PH government was keen on engaging society in matters of governance.

“In the past, if you were not from Barisan Nasional, then you cannot join. Now, we don’t want to do that. Let the people participate, irrespective of their political stance,” he said.

Khalid said Federal Territory MPs also stood to gain recognition from the people, which had not been possible under the previous administration.

“They (MPs) couldn’t get a platform to raise their voices and submit proposals before this.”

He also said the system would only be implemented in Kuala Lumpur for now, as Labuan and Putrajaya only had one MP each. – December 9, 2018.