Senior lawyer Derek Fernandez said amendments could be made to the Local Government Act.
“We have had council elections in the 1950s but they were suspended in the 1960s.
“The government just needs to restore the Section 10 provision to what it used to be, by tabling a bill to amend the law, to make way for elections to be held for the posts of mayor and councillors,” he said, adding that the amendment could be done in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting which will begin on July 16.
He said once the Local Government Act had been amended, other states would follow suit and hold local elections.
Fernandez believed that Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin was referring to having local elections in all states when she mentioned that it would take three years.
States governed by PH, like Penang and Selangor, are expected to hold local elections earlier.
“Other states may take up to three years because of the technical requirement and political time frame.
“Penang and Selangor can hold local council elections straight away. Penang had even passed an enactment for council elections in 2012 but it was held back by a court ruling while Selangor has been championing for the people to choose their local councils since Pakatan Rakyat won the state,” Fernandez said.
Zuraida had said council elections might be implemented in three years, adding that the time frame was needed to give priority to other important matters such as ensuring the country was in a stable financial position.
She also said it was up to the state governments whether they wanted to hold local elections.
In 2014, the Federal Court ruled that the DAP-led Penang government did not have the jurisdiction to conduct local government elections as they had to abide by the Local Government Act.