The Penang government today announced that the state’s local government elections (Penang Island and Province Wellesley 2012) Enactment has been gazetted with effect from July 5 this year.

State executive councillor for local government Chow Kon Yeow said that he has received a printer’s copy of the enactment today.

NONE Chow ( left ), who is also state DAP chief, said the Act, which was passed at the state legislative assembly on May 9, “is now law”.

“The Act is now law although the implementation date for the local government elections has not been announced yet,” he told a press conference today.

This meant that if the Election Commission (EC) decides to hold local elections, Penang would be the first state to conduct it, after the exercise was halted in 1969.

This appears to be a big achievement for local NGOs who have been persistent in campaigning for the implementation of local polls in Penang as a step towards a more democratic and transparent governance.

Minister rejects local gov’t polls enactment

However, Local Government Minister Chor Chee Heung recently told Parliament that the Penang enactment was null and void as Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1976 superseded the Local Government Act 1960 and all laws or enactments on local council elections.

He added that according to Article 75 of the federal constitution, any state law that conflicts with federal law is automatically annulled.

Local government elections were part of PKR, DAP and PAS’ election promise in the 2008 general election and the Penang government has been making the effort to have it implemented despite various obstacles.

Meanwhile, Chow said that since the enactment has been gazetted, the local government division in the state government will write to the EC to seek an appointment for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to meet with the latter’s chairperson.

“We will be sending them copies of the enactment so that we can seek the appointment to discuss with the EC chairperson the procedures to conduct local elections in Penang,” said Chow.

“We need to come up with an order on how to conduct the polls. I believe the EC is aware of this. We hope they will grant us an appointment and we seek their cooperation in this matter,” he added.

‘EC cooperation needed’

Chow said that since only the EC can conduct elections in the country, the state would still have to seek their cooperation in the matter.

He added that in the event that the EC reject’s Penang's request to conduct local polls, the state would file a court case to seek judicial review of the matter.

When asked about Chor’s statement regarding local polls, Chow said, “He is only a minister, not a judge.”

“The court case is our last resort should the EC reject our request. In which case, our lawyer Tommy Thomas would work on the legal matters to submit the necessary documents to the court.”