THE Malays will benefit most from local council elections, said Bersih 2.0 chairman Thomas Fann, rebutting claims that the community would be left out if the third vote was introduced.

Speaking at the Responsible Citizen and Dialogue session at the Royal Chulan Hotel in Kuala Lumpur today, Fann said politicians had long used the issue to create unrest.

“The prime minister was previously quoted as saying that local elections will cause unrest; Abdul Hadi (Awang) from PAS had said it would only benefit the Chinese. This is not true and is an excuse to cause racial strife.

“The fact is, out of three city halls, 12 city councils, 39 municipal councils, 94 district councils, five special or modified local councils, only six have populations where the Chinese outnumber the Malays,” he said.

The six are Ipoh, Kuching Selatan, Iskandar Puteri, Pulau Pinang, Sibu and Subang Jaya.

“In other words, 96% are Malay-majority populations, including Petaling Jaya,” he added.

As such, he said, there was no basis to the claim that Malays would be sidelined or the Chinese would benefit from local council polls.

Fann also said that local elections had yet to gain traction with the public, especially the Malays, for several reasons.

“Not many are interested. We had the last local election 54 years ago. So, it is hard to get the people’s attention now because of a lack of knowledge.

“It is also due to fear of racial strife and political fatigue. We need participation from all Malaysians to make this a reality.” 

Meanwhile, Dr Wong Chin Huat argued that those who rejected the idea of local council elections were denying Malays of their right to choose their own leaders.  

“Those who reject the election are afraid of empowering the Malays. They want the Malays to stay weak and, at the same time, they are denying the rights of the Malays to choose their own leaders.

“This is not the way to protect the Malays or to safeguard Malay rights. Malaysia is never going to move forward if the Malays are not developed,” said the Penang Institute member.

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, who was also one of the speakers, told the audience that local elections would increase people’s participation in local governance.

“We need the people’s participation – that is important for our country to move forward as a new nation. The election itself will increase people’s participation.

“With the people’s participation, the community will expand. Ideas will expand and the strength of the community will increase,” she said.

Maria had earlier pleaded for PAS to back the local elections, saying the current method – where town councillors are appointed – had led to a system of patronage.

Last month, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said local council elections should not be introduced as it would create racial conflicts and widen the urban-rural gap.

“No local council elections. Local council elections may produce the wrong result. The urban (areas) may be different, the rural (areas) will be different.

“There will be conflict, emphasised probably by racial differences and the like. So, we don’t want that to happen,” he had said. – January 13, 2019.