Pressured to fulfill a promise in the Pakatan Rakyat  manifesto for the 12th general election, the Penang government will hold a public forum to discuss ways to reinstate local government elections in the state.

Andrew Yong, a lawyer representing the Chief Minister's Office, said the state has drafted an Enactment for Local Elections in Penang Island and Province Wellesley, which will be discussed at the forum on Saturday.

This Bill will then be tabled at the state legislative assembly sitting, which begins on April 30.

"The forum will be a platform for civil society to engage the government and to provide their views and input on the Bill," said Yong, who will be moderating the event.

NONEThe three-hour forum, to be held in Auditorium A, Level 5 of Komtar, will include speakers like state exco Chow Kon Yeow, constitutional lawyer Tommy Thomas (right), Aliran president Francis Low and Jeral Joseph of Pusat Komas.

Yong said the forum has two objectives. Apart from discussing the draft of the Bill with stakeholders, it will “collect input on the process of restoring local government elections in Penang and the steps to be taken".

The state government, he said, is committed to restoring local elections so that it can return to ratepayers the right to elect representatives to local councils.

However, this quest to return the third vote, faces obstacles in the form of the federal-friendly Election Commission (EC), he noted.

The EC, which comes under the purview of the Prime Minister's Department, is unwilling to implement local elections in Penang despite repeated requests, said Yong.

First step in January

In January, the Penang government, on the advice of its legal team, had issued a gazette notification exempting all local authorities in Penang from applying Section 15 of the Local Government Act.

asian democracy and economic development forum penang 090212 lim guan engSection 15 provides that all laws relating to local government elections are of no force and effect.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had said this would be the prelude to the state seeking a court declaration to compel the EC to conduct local government elections in Penang.

If the state government is successful in its quest, ratepayers in Penang will be able to practise the system of local democracy that was in effect from 1951 to 1965.

At the time, councillors were elected by residents in the locality in which they lived. The system has since been abolished.