SHAH ALAM - Pasir Gudang Member of Parliament Hassan Abdul Karim questions the statements of several Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders who flatly reject the proposed local government elections by DAP on the grounds of fear that council members will be monopolised by non-Malays.
The PKR MP said that he did not see the idea of holding local elections to give a direct impact on the power and position of the Malays with conditions that it should be implemented throughout the country and not just in Kuala Lumpur.
He said Umno-BN and the Malay party should 'not be afraid of their own shadows' in debating the implementation of local government elections because it was actually the third stage in the parliamentary democratic system.
"I agree that local authority elections are held in this country because it is the third stage in the parliamentary democratic system after the Dewan Rakyat and the State Legislative Assembly.
"However, it needs to be implemented throughout the country and not just in KL. With many Malays already migrating and settling in the Klang Valley, does Umno object to the proposal because they are afraid of their own shadow?" he told Sinar Premium on Monday.
Commenting further, Hassan also questioned whether the system for selecting councilors currently used by the state government was truly democratic and transparent.
"In the existing PBT representative election system, when a state is completely dominated by a party that receives the support of a two-thirds majority, it is certain that the entire PBT representative appointed consists of the leaders of the party concerned.
"The matter is in fact contrary to the objective of the parliamentary democratic system where any implementation of local countils tax collection from the people, can only be approved after the people in the area concerned are empowered to elect council members.
"I also agree if the method of appointing the Datuk Bandar or Yang Dipertua of municipal and district councils remains appointed at the discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or state sultans," he said.
He said the people needed to be given space to choose the appointment of council members.
"Currently, anyone can be appointed as a member of the council, which is detrimental to the people because the majority of these factions are incompetent and just act as 'yes men'.
"Shame on us, Indonesia which is considered lagging in terms of reforming administrative institutions also hold local government elections to fulfill three important stages in strengthening the parliamentary democratic system," he said.
Thus, he considered the proposed implementation of local authority elections to be a major challenge for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to fulfill his aspirations in realising the reform of the country's administrative institutions.
"I think the excuse that there are not many Malays in the big cities is irrelevant. In Kuala Lumpur, various Malay organisations have been established here since 1970. Shouldn't that practice only be considered democratic after benefiting the Malays alone?
"Please conduct a study at the grassroots level, how many council members in each local councils area are really known to the people? The big problem is when chief minister, menteri besar and Premier conspire to appoint anyone as a councilor, they are just following the direction and political interests of the party certain, not the people," he stressed.