Selangor local gov't elections by month's end
Regina LeePublished: May 4, 2011 9:37 AM | Updated: May 4, 2011 10:04 AM
The Selangor government will begin a pilot exercise on local government elections by the end of this month.
The Selangor government will begin a pilot exercise on local government elections by the end of this month.
Expected to go on for two months, the elections will see the post of village chief up is for grabs in Kampung Baru Sungai Jarom, Kampung Baru Pandamaran and Kampung Bagan in Pulau Ketam.
“Why the three? There is no specific reason actually,” said state executive councillor in charge of new village development and illegal factory settlement Ean Yong Hian Wah (right).
He said the new villages were also randomly ‘volunteered’ by the respective assemblypersons.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, he said that the pilot project was part of Pakatan Rakyat’s manifesto for the 2008 general election.
“If this works out, then we will consider expanding this to elect all the state (local) councillors,” said Ean Yong.
He said there are 78 new villages and “over 360” Malay villages in the state.
With the pilot exercise estimated to cost between RM100,000 and RM200,000 for each village, the Seri Kembangan assemblyperson said this will “certainly be quite expensive” to implement state-wide.
He also said that local government elections - the first to be held in the country since 1964 - will not have any involvement from the Election Commission (EC).
“They are not involved, together with the police. Actually, the Menteri Besar’s office had held a meeting with the EC and the police, asking for their help in the local government elections.
“They said they didn’t want to cooperate, so the state government decided to move along with it anyway,” Ean Yong revealed.
However, he said he is not too worried about the legalities and the loopholes in holding the elections which the EC has already dismissed as illegal, since this is not provided for under the Local Government Act.
“At the end of the day, we still have our own legal procedure to follow when appointing the councillors," said Ean Yong.
“The councillors will still need the state government to appoint them. It’s just a matter of how these councillors get to the appointment stage.”
NGOs welcome to observe
While the state government may not have received the nod from the EC, Ean Yong is opening up the pilot exercise to NGOs for observation.
The elections will be monitored by the state Land Office.
“Because we have no experience in running an election, we are starting from scratch. I’ll be happy if (any) NGO wants to help us monitor the elections,” he said.
Though the state government has yet to fix the exact dates for the elections, he said that the new villages are already buzzing with excitement.
“There are already one or two people telling me that they are interested in contesting. Most of the residents also agree with the pilot project,” he added.
Expected to go on for two months, the elections will see the post of village chief up is for grabs in Kampung Baru Sungai Jarom, Kampung Baru Pandamaran and Kampung Bagan in Pulau Ketam.
“Why the three? There is no specific reason actually,” said state executive councillor in charge of new village development and illegal factory settlement Ean Yong Hian Wah (right).He said the new villages were also randomly ‘volunteered’ by the respective assemblypersons.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, he said that the pilot project was part of Pakatan Rakyat’s manifesto for the 2008 general election.
“If this works out, then we will consider expanding this to elect all the state (local) councillors,” said Ean Yong.
He said there are 78 new villages and “over 360” Malay villages in the state.
With the pilot exercise estimated to cost between RM100,000 and RM200,000 for each village, the Seri Kembangan assemblyperson said this will “certainly be quite expensive” to implement state-wide.
He also said that local government elections - the first to be held in the country since 1964 - will not have any involvement from the Election Commission (EC).
“They are not involved, together with the police. Actually, the Menteri Besar’s office had held a meeting with the EC and the police, asking for their help in the local government elections.
“They said they didn’t want to cooperate, so the state government decided to move along with it anyway,” Ean Yong revealed.
However, he said he is not too worried about the legalities and the loopholes in holding the elections which the EC has already dismissed as illegal, since this is not provided for under the Local Government Act.
“At the end of the day, we still have our own legal procedure to follow when appointing the councillors," said Ean Yong.
“The councillors will still need the state government to appoint them. It’s just a matter of how these councillors get to the appointment stage.”
NGOs welcome to observe
While the state government may not have received the nod from the EC, Ean Yong is opening up the pilot exercise to NGOs for observation.
The elections will be monitored by the state Land Office.
“Because we have no experience in running an election, we are starting from scratch. I’ll be happy if (any) NGO wants to help us monitor the elections,” he said.
Though the state government has yet to fix the exact dates for the elections, he said that the new villages are already buzzing with excitement.
“There are already one or two people telling me that they are interested in contesting. Most of the residents also agree with the pilot project,” he added.
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