Selangor not keen on Local Councilors chosen by the people - they prefer to appoint. A new attempt to pacify LC Elections advocates..

Is the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government taking us all for a ride with regard to local council elections in the State?

“We will be writing to the Elections Commission to find out about the feedback given over Penang’s call to restore local government elections,” said Khalid.

“We will write a letter to the Election Commission (EC) alongside the Penang government (which did so yesterday) to find out what kind of support the commission will give us for such elections,” he said.

Just write to the Election Commission and ask them to conduct Local Council Elections - not send them some letter asking them to give their feedback on Penang's call for a local council elections.[I am sure that Lim Guan Eng can forward to the Selangor MB a copy of the letter/response from the Election Commission] .

If Selangor truly wants local council elections, then just write letter asking the Election Commission to conduct the local council elections. If they refuse, then they will give their reasons. Then, Selangor should just take the matter to court...

It seems that Khalid is now writing letter to the Election Commission to get their views... to get clarification. [Well, this should have been done in March/April  2008, not 2 years later...]

He added the state would also like clarification from the Commission on “other matters” regarding local council elections....

“We feel many that legal provisions are unclear and want to clarify every aspect before embarking on it,” said Khalid.

Further, for clarification about the law, you go to court - not to the Election Commission. Legal opinion have been given by lawyers (prominent lawyers too), that you can have local council elections, and I am sure that the Selangor MB (and Pakatan Rakyat) is inteligent enough to know that if there is any uncertainty about the law, then the proper place to go is the court. File a case...and get your clarifications about Selangor's right and ability to have local council elections...

If you conduct elections, and they say " election results were declared null and void due to technicalities." No Problem. Just appoint those chosen by the people as Local Councilors, just like what you are doing now. Only difference would be that these would be the people's choice - not Selangor Pakatan Rakyat's choice. So there is no question of wasting time and money.

He added the state did not want to be caught in a situation whereby election results were declared null and void due to technicalities.

He added that besides wasting millions of ringgit and countless campaign hours, such an untoward incident would also result in people becoming disillusioned.

Selangor's PKR Menteri Besar thinks that Malaysians are fools. If you do not want local council elections, where people elect in the local councilors, then tell us so. You can still carry on appointing Pakatan Rakyat party members and friends as local councilors. 

This statement by the Selangor MB is sad, and looks like it is made just to pacify the growing campaign for local council elections (that Pakatan Rakyat, including PKR and DAP, promised before GE2008) - just to waste time....waste enough time until the next General Elections. 

SHAH ALAM: Selangor will emulate Penang in restoring local council elections in the state, said Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

“We will be writing to the Elections Commission to find out about the feedback given over Penang’s call to restore local government elections,” said Khalid.

He said the Selangor government would move in tandem with its Penang counterpart on matters regarding the restoration of local council elections.

He added the state would also like clarification from the Commission on “other matters” regarding local council elections.

The mentri besar told a press conference at the state-level Pakatan Rakyat convention that Selangor wanted to clarify various issues with the Commission first before embarking on the restoration of local council elections.

“We feel many that legal provisions are unclear and want to clarify every aspect before embarking on it,” said Khalid.

He added the state did not want to be caught in a situation whereby election results were declared null and void due to technicalities.

He added that besides wasting millions of ringgit and countless campaign hours, such an untoward incident would also result in people becoming disillusioned.

Khalid said the state has been conducting research on the feasibility of holding local council elections as well as to find ways to fine-tune the process.

Penang, which wants to conduct local council elections in the state, has written Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof informing him of the state’s intent.- Star, 7/3/2010, Selangor also wants to restore local elections

The Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government will support the Penang government's move towards reinstating local government elections, said Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today.

“We will write a letter to the Election Commission (EC) alongside the Penang government (which did so yesterday) to find out what kind of support the commission will give us for such elections,” he said. told a press conference after the officiating the Selangor Pakatan convention this morning in Shah Alam.

He said, however, that in-depth research must be conducted to clarify the legal issues surrounding the holding of local government elections, which have not been held since they were scrapped in 1964.

“We found that (there are) some legal aspects that are still unclear. We want to avoid spending millions on the elections only to have them declared null and void. The people will then feel cheated,” he said.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said yesterday that the state executive council had written to EC chief Abdul Aziz Yusof seeking his advice on the holding of elections for its Seberang Perai and Penang island municipal councils. 

A Kedah Gerakan Youth leader yesterday challenged the other Pakatan states to follow in Penang's DAP-led government's steps, failing to do so signifying the opposition coalition was not in agreement over the matter. - Malaysiakini, 7/3/2010, Local elections: S'gor to follow Penang

I have looked again at the report about Penang asking the Election Commission to conduct local council elections, and am now wondering what really were the contents of their letter. Was is also a letter seeking clarification and views, OR was it a letter asking the EC to conduct local council elections. It would be good if the Penang letter was published (or posted on the web) - so we know for a fact that Penang, unlike Selangor, is really going for local council elections now. (See earlier post:- Local Council Elections - Penang leads by asking EC to conduct elections..

If Selangor had filed a legal suit in 2008, we would have already had a court decision that Selangor can have local council elections (or not), and if the decision was 'NO', then the appeal to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court could have also been done.

So, what is the plan Khalid? 

- Write letter to EC about what support they can give Selangor government...

- Then EC will reply...

- Then maybe, Selangor might write more letters...(and wait for more replies)..

- Then, maybe it will be time for next GE, and they will promise again that they will restore local council elections...

Be honest, and answer this question:-

DOES SELANGOR REALLY WANT LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS? 

 (From my observation, they really do not want Local Council Elections, preferring to be able to appoint their own Pakatan Rakyat cronies (which they can control) into the Local Councilors.  Human Rights groups and civil society groups who were strongly campaigning for local council elections were 'silenced' by Pakatan Rakyat's strategy of appointing them as Local Councillors..but thankfully, new leadership have emerged, and civil society groups are once again calling for local council elections -Coalition for Good Governance(CGG) Media Statement on Local Council Elections.. Even if the Election Commission does not want to conduct/assist, you can always allow the people to choose the Local Councillors by elections - and, then the State can appoint these persons as Local Councillors. There are so many ways - but the question is whether Pakatan Rakyat has the political will to allow people to choose their own Local Councillors?)