For years, civil society groups and political parties, including the DAP and PKR, have been pushing for the re-introduction of local council elections, but with Mahathir citing the possibility of racial conflicts and the widening of the urban-rural gap, they are unlikely to be realised anytime soon.
However, Bersih Sarawak says the state is not bound by Putrajaya’s decision on the matter as it had its own local government ordinances and was “free to decide on its own destiny”.
In a statement, it noted that the power to conduct local government elections was a power retained by Sarawak as part of forming the Federation of Malaysia and that local government remained an item in the State List of the Federal Constitution.
It added Sarawak had the necessary experience in conducting elections to elect councillors to the local authorities going back to 1948 and that it should continue to hold such elections.
“Lest we forget, the first chief minister of Sarawak, Stephen Kalong Ningkan, was elected a district councillor, then a divisional councillor, and finally, a member of the state legislature, and a member of the Supreme Council in 1963.
“These elections were abolished in the 1980s for reasons which were not widely known to the general public.”
Bersih Sarawak said having local government elections would strengthen grassroots democracy and participation in decision-making among communities, adding that such polls would provide a good training ground for young people who aspire to be future representatives at the state or national level.
“If they are elected councillors they would have already learned about budgets, taxes and levies and other basics of good governance, accountability, and integrity in the running of local government.
“It would also be beneficial for the rate-payers and citizens as a whole because non-partisan local government elections would mean that councillors are accountable to the voters and rate-payers who voted them in.”
Bersih Sarawak said issues and services that affect the public like housing, town planning, public health, and the environment could be better heard if local council elections were brought back.