ERC chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman however said there must be a suitable system for its implementation, including taking into account Malaysia’s multi-racial society.

“It needs a system to give representation that is balanced and suitable with Malaysia’s society,” he told FMT recently.

He said while ERC was tasked with recommending improvements to the electoral system, local council elections do not come under its terms of reference.

“These elections are necessary but we must prepare the appropriate mechanisms to ensure the elections meet the demands of society,” he told FMT recently.

Late last year, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said there were no plans to bring back local council elections, citing concerns of racial conflicts.

He said differences in urban and rural demographics could bring the “wrong results”.

“Urban will be different and rural will be different. There will be conflict, probably emphasised by racial differences,” the prime minister had said.

The last local council election was held in 1963. Elections scheduled for the following year were suspended. The reason given by the federal government was Indon­esia’s confrontation with Malaysia.

The suspension, which was supposed to be temporary, became permanent in 1976 when Parliament passed the Local Government Act, which abolished the polls and provided for appointed councillors.

In May this year, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said her ministry was studying models used in various countries to come up with a local election system that could “best fit the Malaysian situation”.

She had earlier vowed to restore local elections in 2021, by tabling a bill to amend the Local Government Act.

Rashid said ERC could conduct its own study on the need for local council elections.

“I have my own methods to do it and if I was asked to make recommendations, I will bring them up,” he said.