Elected mayor for KL, bringing back local council elections: Has that ship sailed for Malaysia?

Recent debates on local government elections, where politicking has once again taken centre stage, are a clear indication that Malaysia is still not prepared to decentralise power at the lower levels of decision-making.

It has been 61 years since Malaysia last held local government elections.

Such elections in the Federation of Malaya were enabled through the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance 1950 and the Local Government Elections Act 1960. The country’s first local government election was held on Dec 1, 1951, for the Municipal Council of George Town, Penang.

In 1952, Kuala Lumpur held its first municipal council elections, which saw Alliance Party candidates win 12 out of 14 seats.

Local elections, however, were short-lived. They were suspended in 1965 during the Malaysia–Indonesia Confrontation.

Although the nation’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, gave an undertaking in Parliament to restore local government elections once the situation stabilised, they never made a return.

Reports later suggested that local elections were scrapped because local councils in towns nationwide were dominated by the Opposition. Observers also noted that the May 13, 1969 racial riots were subsequently weaponised to justify ending voting at the municipal level altogether.

Calls to restore local council elections, as heard today, are hardly new.

In 1968, the Royal Commission of Inquiry to Investigate into the Workings of Local Authorities in West Malaysia, chaired by Senator Datuk Athi Nahappan and better known as the Athi Nahappan report, recommended decentralisation and elected representation for local authorities.

However, the enactment of the Local Government Act 1976 effectively shut the door on such reforms. Section 15 of the Act states that all provisions relating to local government elections shall cease to have force or effect, notwithstanding any other written law.

Over the years, countless dialogues, studies and reports have been commissioned to explore the possibility of restoring the third vote.

In 2008, Pakatan Rakyat pledged in its election manifesto to bring back local government elections, a promise repeated during the 2018 general election.

From the political breakthrough nearly two decades ago, when the Opposition formed state governments in five of the 11 states in the peninsula, to the 2018 landslide victory that saw Putrajaya change hands, discussions on local government elections have never fully faded.

About 14 years ago, the Penang state assembly passed the Local Government Elections Enactment 2012 to facilitate council elections for the then Penang Municipal Council and the Seberang Perai Municipal Council. The Federal Court later declared the enactment ultra vires after it was rejected by the Federal Government, then led by Barisan Nasional.

In 2009, the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor state government commissioned an advocacy paper titled ‘Bring Back Local Government Elections’ in an attempt to revive the process.

The push for an elected mayor for Kuala Lumpur has also been championed by MPs from the capital, particularly those from DAP and PKR, since 2008.

The political shift in 2018 saw then Housing and Local Government minister Zuraida Kamaruddin pledge to restore local council elections within three years. In early 2020, she said feasibility studies conducted between 2018 and 2019 estimated the cost at RM2 million per council, or RM308 million nationwide.

Following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020, Zuraida reversed her position. By August 2020, now under the Perikatan Nasional banner, she said the coalition would not proceed due to objections from its partner, Umno.

Last week, a DAP minister announced that another feasibility study was being undertaken by the International Islamic University Malaysia, this time focusing on mayoral elections for Kuala Lumpur.

After public backlash, newly appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh clarified that the study, still at the research stage, had been initiated by her predecessor, Dr Zaliha Yusof, in December.

Among those quick to dismiss the idea were Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi and the party’s Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh.

Puad urged his party to oppose any move towards electing a mayor for Kuala Lumpur, warning that such contests could be vulnerable to political manipulation and criminal networks. Writing on Facebook, he argued that the federal capital’s entertainment districts and alleged underworld activity could expose mayoral elections to the influence of party politics, racial sentiment, cartels and gangs.

It is ironic that Umno, now part of the Madani government, is once again rejecting the idea of local government elections. Pas leaders have similarly opposed such calls over the years.

After more than six decades, it is clear that Malaysia – particularly its politicians – lacks the political will to democratise local governance.

Restoring local council elections should not be reduced to an annual public relations exercise to test public sentiment or score political points. Commissioning study after study without meaningful follow-through serves no purpose.

Admittedly, restoring local government elections cannot happen overnight.

Yet outright rejection on the grounds that the process is cumbersome, or claims that one race would dominate another, is a lazy approach. If such assertions are valid, they must be supported by solid, documented evidence.

Many countries conduct local council elections. All 27 European Union nations do so, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden. The United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Tanzania and Nigeria also practise local democracy.

Closer to home, Japan, India, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines continue to uphold the third vote.

Malaysia’s current system of appointing local councillors does little to promote accountability or transparency for ratepayers. Instead, it is often perceived as a mechanism to reward party loyalists and political allies, with accountability flowing upwards to party masters rather than downwards to residents.

The reality is that reinstating local government elections will be a complex undertaking. Voters may need to elect up to 25 candidates per municipality, including councillors and a mayor or council president, across more than 150 councils nationwide.

This would require amendments to laws such as the Local Government Act 1976. In Kuala Lumpur’s case, it would also involve repealing the Federal Capital Act 1960.

Still, granting ratepayers the right to elect their local representatives would strengthen service delivery, community development and inclusivity at the grassroots level.

Too often, decision-makers forget that bread-and-butter issues – clogged drains, pothole-ridden roads, faulty street lights and neglected playgrounds – are what truly frustrate residents. These grievances are frequently directed at elected representatives who have neither authority over nor access to the inner workings of local councils.

Of course, candidates for local councils must be properly vetted. Not every Abu, Samy, Ah Suan or Mary should be able to contest without background checks, including full disclosure of campaign funding sources.

In a country increasingly short of credible leaders, local government elections could provide a platform to identify and nurture the leaders of tomorrow.

It is at the grassroots level that aspiring leaders gain a real understanding of everyday problems. A councillor’s track record at the local level would also allow voters to make more informed choices when these individuals later contest state or parliamentary seats.

Restoring local government elections in Malaysia is long overdue.

As the current administration continues to champion institutional reform, it must not forget that democracy at the local level is foundational to liberty.