Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said local council elections were crucial for promoting democracy at the grassroots level. “Democracy is not just at the upper level; it should include every level and this includes the local council,” said Yii at a forum on constituency boundaries yesterday.

He said special provisions and protections under Malaysian law for Sarawak and Sabah empowered the two states to pass a state law to allow for local council elections, the Borneo Post reported.

As local councils are under the jurisdiction of the state government, he said Sarawak was well-positioned to lead in restoring local council elections, which were abolished by the federal government in 1976.

However, second-term Sarawak senator Robert Lau said Putrajaya’s intervention would still be needed as Sarawak did not have an independent election commission with which to conduct elections.

Lau said the laws governing local councils also came under federal jurisdiction, and the federal minister for housing and local government Nga Kor Ming had voiced out against holding local government elections throughout the country.

The senator suggested that local council elections should be held at the city council level rather than for all local authorities, which would relieve MPs of many local duties best carried out by local councillors.