Cenbet co-president and former MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu said political conditions had matured which made it feasible to restore local council elections.
He said one of the conditions was the peaceful transition of power at state and federal levels after the recent general election.
There were also urgent calls for reforms, he told a news conference.
Local council elections, popularly known as the third vote, were last held in the country in 1963.
The elections scheduled to be held in 1964 and 1965 were suspended because of Indonesia’s confrontation with Malaysia.
In 1976, local elections were scrapped altogether when Parliament passed the Local Government Act which only provided for appointed councillors.
Gan said the issue of bringing back the third vote was raised several times over the years.
“I remember, as an assemblyman in 2006, there were voices calling on the then Barisan Nasional (BN) government to look into bringing back the third vote.
“But we were worried that local elections might be dominated by certain ethnicities in some areas.
“I think the conditions have matured now and we should look into ushering in local elections,” he said.
Gan suggested that a roadmap be drawn up to prepare for local elections.
“I think a lot of preparation must be done and we must give time to the current government to work on these calls.
“But it could start with (elections for) the mayor and city councils. Those should be given priority,” he said.
In February, Cenbet commissioned WAYY Consulting, an independent research and consulting firm, to carry out a survey on the theme “Do Malaysians Trust Public Institutions?”
The findings showed respondents had low trust in local government and there was an apparent strong case for the government to consider bringing back the third vote to narrow the trust gap.
Last week, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin indicated that local council elections could be restored within three years.
She based her expectation on her observations of local council elections in Indonesia and New Zealand.