WE refer to the article in Malaysiakini dated May 9, 2019 titled “Penang ever-ready, but up to Putrajaya to restore local polls”. We note that the Penang government had in the past advocated for local council elections to be restored in Penang, and together with former Aliran president P. Ramakrishnan, had even taken the case all the way up to the federal court. 

Saying “we are ever ready” or that “we have done our best”, however, is no longer enough. With Pakatan Harapan now in control of the federal government, the DAP-led Penang government should seize every opportunity to champion and strongly push forward this agenda. 

From press reports, it would seem as though Minister for Housing and Local Government YB Zuraida Kamaruddin is left all alone to champion this cause. As such, we call upon the DAP-led Penang government to strongly advocate for local council elections and stand with YB Zuraida in her advocacy. We hope that the Penang state government will not back down to parties that oppose the restoration of local elections with misleading non-issues, pressuring into another “u-turn” episode. 

The government of Penang can take the following concrete steps:

1. Organise public education programmes on local council elections in the various local communities and build support for the cause. This could include seminars, workshops and public debates. We see this as an important step to help raise awareness and gain public trust and confidence. 

2. Now that the Penang government has a close working relationship with the federal government, the state should work to gain approval from cabinet to hold local council elections in Penang first, without waiting for parliament to amend the laws. This could be done as a pilot project. 

Historically, George Town was the first to conduct local government elections in 1857 when three out of the five municipal commissioners were elected. After the suspension period, Penang again became the first to elect nine out of the 15 municipal commissioners  in 1951. In 1956, George Town Municipal Council became the first local council to be fully elected. Let us regain this glory by being the first state to restore local government elections now. 

3. In light of a new government at the federal level, the Penang state could also take the matter up once again to the Federal Court for a review of its 2014 decision that the Penang government did not have the jurisdiction to conduct local government elections. This would affirm the position taken by the state previously that local government elections are a state matter under the Ninth Schedule of the federal constitution, and that the state legislature has jurisdiction to provide for the holding of local elections under the Ninth Schedule and Article 113(4) of the federal constitution. We need to restore the rights of the state to conduct local council elections. 

The Penang Local Council Election Working Group is ready to work with the state government and offer any assistance needed to help push forward this agenda. Together we could advocate for and work towards restoring local and grassroots democracy in Penang. 

*K. Sudhagaran Stanley is a member of the Penang Local Council Elections Working Group.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.