Penang Forum to hold local council elections

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We applaud the move planned by the Penang Forum, a coalition of Penang NGOs, communities and individuals to organize local council elections in the state which is to be held on 14 November 2010 at the 3rd Penang Forum.

This is the first step and a trial run which everyone of us must observe in order to see its effectiveness and what it could contribute.

Besides, the Penang state government should also seriously look into this implementation. The local council elections agenda was one of the promise that Pakatan Rakyat had made during the last general elections and its implementation are still pending citing various restrictions in the provisions under the Local Governments Act and the current federalism of governance which had left the state government powerless in terms of some policy implementations and fundings as well as the uncooperative manner of the Election Commission (EC).

We believe that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders should not take these challenges as a stumbling block for them to do so. There are a number of alternatives where the PR rule states should look into.

If the provisions under the Local Government Act had stated its restrictions on reviving the local council elections, perhaps establishing electoral councils in all districts with the participation of all the people as a temporary measure should also be considered.

For example, we had earlier made a suggestion that the General People's Congress (GPC) should be organized in the district levels where the people would meet and elect their representatives via GPC elections, where in turn, these successfully elected GPC candidates should be forwarded to the local council managements for endorsement and official appointments.

In order to make the local council elections a reality, we strongly urge the NGOs and the PR state governments should come together to formulate a most effective plan to implement this election. It is for the benefit of the people and it is also the will of our people to see that all our local councils come up clean, transparent and be accountable in whatever they carry out in their respective municipalities.

When PR was ruling Perak state, they had successfully implemented mini elections in the state to elect their respective village heads and committees members and we believe that in Penang with all its available resources, it can also be carried out more effectively.

We strongly support the local council elections. We urge PR state governments to organize them as soon as possible for the benefit of our people. Carry out the third vote soonest possible!

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