KUCHING, Aug 1: The state government has been urged not to dismiss out of hand the suggestion to reinstate local council elections as it would give Sarawakians a voice on issues that concerned them.
In a statement today, Bersih Sarawak said it viewed with great concern Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari’s recent statement that the state government will not comply with the federal government’s proposal to implement local council elections to elect councillors with the chief minister citing Sarawak autonomy on local government and Malaysia Agreement 1963 as the main reason for his refusal.
“While we do not dispute that power over local government, administration and elections are in the hands of the state under the State List as enshrined in our Federal Constitution, we believe that state autonomy should not be used as a blanket argument to oppose policy decisions emanating from the federal side.
“We are of the view that re-instating local council elections will not only encourage and increase citizens’ (sic) participation of Sarawakians in local governance but also it will give us, Sarawakians a voice on issues that concern us the most such as affordable housing, town/rural planning, public transportation, public health, sanitation and the environment including forest management.
“Elected councillors as opposed to ones nominated or appointed by political parties will mean they are accountable to the rate-payers and locals who elect them. Issues can be better aired and heard by those elected councillors and hence decision-making be more reflective of the wishes of the locals,” Bersih Sarawak said.
It also noted that historically, Sarawak has a long history of local council elections starting from 1948 under the Local Authorities Ordinance 1948 and the Local Government Elections Ordinance 1948. The Kuching Municipal Council (now Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan) held its first councilors elections in 1956 during the colonial period.
“Because the elected council is accountable to the locals, the Kuching Municipal Council flats was built in 1957 that we can still see it today in the centre of Kuching City. Here we like to remind our Chief Minister and all Sarawakians that the first Chief Minister of Sarawak, late (Tan Sri) Stephen Kalong Ningkan, too was once elected a district councillor, then a divisional councillor, before he was a member of the State Legislature, and Supreme Council in 1963.
“We acknowledge that the right to run its local councils including that to conduct local council elections for its local councils was amongst the powers retained by Sarawak upon the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. However, as members of civil society, we wish to see more active participation from Sarawakians in local council administration through councilor elections and public consultation on issues concerning the locals. Currently the general public is kept in the dark on most developments of the locale, environmental issues, local resource and forest management including land development.”
Bersih Sarawak reiterated that it was not disputing with the Chief Minister about Sarawak autonomy on local government administration but urged him to consider policies which promotes and upholds ideals of good governance such as accountability, transparency, promote greater grassroots participation and opportunities for local leadership development. Reinstating local council elections would not only free up lawmakers to focus on policy-making, but also improve local authorities, it argued.
“Having an effective and accountable local councillors and mayors would also free up the state assemblymen or MPs to focus on policy-making and the business of law-making. As opposed to the current scenario where they will have to daily face complaints and handle issues that are within the purview of local councils and councilors. Thus, bringing back local government elections and strengthening local authorities can only be a good thing for politicians. The on-going efforts by the State for devolution of powers from Federal government must also mean some of State powers can be devolved to the lower levels of governance and local authorities.”
Bersih Sarawak thus called upon the state government and the minister in charge of local government to lead the way and bring back local government elections in Sarawak as it already has its own set of ordinances, but not before having consultations and debates with stakeholders and grassroots civil society to review the merits of restoring or reintroducing these elections. — DayakDaily
