The NGOs which were present, MyPJ (Petaling Jaya Coalition), Penang Forum Coalition and Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur (SKL), also demanded that the roadmap for local council elections include:

• Election of city mayors for the cities of Petaling Jaya, Penang and Kuala Lumpur be carried out by June 2019;
• Election of councillors for cities of Petaling Jaya, Penang and Kuala Lumpur be carried out by December 2019; and,
• Election of council presidents and councillors for the rest of Malaysia be carried out within three years.

Apart from these, the NGOs want the PH government to establish a working group, consisting of experts and civil society groups, to plan elections for mayors by June 2019 and city councillors by December 2019.

“One-third of the councillors must be made up of civil society and community representatives, with the names nominated by civil society.

“The representatives should not include economic interest groups such as chambers of commerce or other such business groups,” said the NGO representatives at the office of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4).

The NGOs hope local council elections will be transparent, with the majority of councillors being ordinary residents in the area.

“They must have proven experience in local government or achieved distinction in any profession, commerce or industry,” the representatives said.

The NGOs reminded the PH government that in its 2018 manifesto, it had used the broad term “strengthen local democracy”.

“In 2008, civil society and community representatives were given places in every council in Pakatan Rakyat states to ensure political interests did not override people’s interests.

“But by 2011, it was evident that all the people’s representatives had been hijacked by political parties.

“It resulted in abuse of power and inefficient management of local councils.”

Dr Lim Mah Hui, of Penang Forum, said the PH government had not kept its promise to ensure councillors were made up of non-politicians.

“It is not stated anywhere that these councillors should be politicians but, unfortunately, both in Penang and Selangor, the local councils are filled by political appointees,” he said.

The NGOs also brought up instances of alleged abuses in the past within the Petaling Jaya, Penang and Kuala Lumpur city councils. They claimed the mayors had been negligent in handling maintenance of public housing, management of land deals and decisions made based on partisan views.