It is a blow to all Malaysian that the Election commission announces that local government elections cannot be held. The reason for it is that the provisions under the Local Government Elections Act 1960 have been abolished. It is understandable, as they (Election Commision) have no authoritative decision to allow it to happen since the Local Government Act 1976 has clearly stated in Section 15(1) “all provisions in any law relating to local government elections shall cease to have force or effect”. And it is also said that all local councillors are “to be appointed by the State Authority” in Section 10 of the Local Government Act 1976. To put it plainly, having ‘Local Government Election’ goes against the Law of Malaysia. Therefore, the Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof is powerless to even suggest it and his decision to give a ‘thumbs-up’ is restricted by the act.
The issue of Local Government Election is often dealt lightly in the eyes of many young voters. Possible answer for that repercussion is that the Gen-X and Gen-Y Malaysian has never heard about Local Government Election. This is because all local government elections had been entirely abolished since July 1972. The democratic rights to chose and elect your local authority of the three tier government structure in Malaysia has been denied for nearly forty years. Talk about “Rakyat Didahulukan”, the basic grass roots level of democratic process is denied. Paraphrasing the words of our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak – fearing that the “over-focus” on the political process will hamper the aim to improve services to the people; it is a debatable statement and should not be seen as a valid and justifiable excuse.
In connection to that, there is a possibility that his statement on 9th of March 2010 may influence the EC’s announcement today, but that is only an assumption. Bearing in mind, although he (Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof) is appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, it has been argued that under Article 40 of the Constitution, the King cannot act on his own discretion unless explicitly stated; in all other cases, he must acquiesce to the advice of the Prime Minister, and as such the appointments to the Commission are made with the advice of the Prime Minister. Is his job at stake? Or is he merely deciding on this matter in accordance to the Local Government Act 1976 – that’s another assumption.
The Penang and Selangor Government can only push the matter this far and further demand for this Local Government Act 1976 to be amended is pointless and a waste of time. Datuk Kalakau Untol made it very clear in his speech at Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam during Pakatan Rakyat Selangor’s March 8 Anniversary. He said that there’s a lot of limitation for the opposition to make Malaysia a better nation. The only way is through the Federal Government. The real authority is in the hands of the citizens in the next election and not in the hands of Tan Sri Abdul Aziz.
Tags: Local Government, Local Government Act, Local Government Election, Malaysia, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof
