THE Housing and Local Government Ministry needs three years to prepare the working paper on the proposal to implement local council elections for the cabinet’s approval.

Its minister, Zuraida Kamarudin, said in the meantime, her ministry would organise public workshops and forums for all stakeholders, as well as collaborate with local councils to educate members of the public on local council elections.

“Within these three years, we will organise workshops, forums and so on to all stakeholders. Today is the second step, whereby the local councils will play their roles by going down to the ground to engage the community and educate them on what local council elections are all about.

“At the same time, the ministry will make amendments on related Acts that need to be amended. InshaAllah (God willing), by the end of this year, we will present the proposed amendments on Acts related to the local council elections to the cabinet,” she told a press conference after attending the public forum “Local Council Elections: Who Loses, Who Wins” in George Town today.

Present was state Housing, Town and Country Planning and Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.

Zuraida said the time frame for the implementation of the local government elections would be determined after the proposal was tabled and approved by the cabinet.

“The implementation of this election can be carried out in stages, not necessarily to be conducted simultaneously. Penang is quite a mature state; it already proposed the implementation of local council elections even when it was still an opposition state. So, for implementation, Penang will be No. 1 on the list,” she said.

Commenting on Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s previous statement that the government would not hold local council elections, Zuraida said she would ask the prime minister to give her ministry the opportunity to present the proposal before the final decision was made.

Meanwhile, Jagdeep hoped the local council elections could be held in the near future as Penang had long fought for its implementation.

“The minister’s presence at the forum today shows her commitment for the implementation of local council elections in the near future. The issue now is when (the implementation will take place). We support this effort and hope it can be expedited,” he said. – Bernama, August 17, 2019.