Tuesday May 14, 2013

Perak residents want more say in choosing their local representatives

By CHERYL HEW and ELWEEN LOKE
metroperak@thestar.com.my

MANY Perak folk are in favour of holding local government elections in a bid to have a say in choosing their local authorities and improving the services offered.

Clinic receptionist Siti Laila Nmjamlal, 47, supported the view for local government elections to be held, as she was not satisfied with the performance of the councillor in her area.

“I have lived in Kinta Heights flats that is managed by the Ipoh City Council for seven years and the living conditions there is less than satisfactory.

“Unfortunately, residents like me have no power to choose who should serve us in our area, so we will have to live with it unless local government elections are brought back,” she told The Star.

Local government elections were held in the past, but the practice stopped during the 1965 Confrontation with Indonesia and has not been revived since.

Former civil servant Ismail Mohamad, 61, was of the opinion that local government elections should be revived to help dissipate dissatisfaction among the people whenever the general election did not proceed the way they wanted.

“In the elections, there are times when two capable candidates from opposing parties are pitted against each other and only one can win and serve the people.

“If we have local government elections, the losing candidate can then run for a councillor post instead of waiting for another four to five years for the next elections,” he said.

Assistant accountant A. Dayalakaundhar, 22, opined that having local government elections would satisfy the people who constantly complained about their local authorities performing poorly.

“The people are easily dissatisfied now as they do not have a say as to who becomes their councillors, council presidents and mayors.

“The process is strictly controlled by the state government, which the people feel can be influenced by corruption and favouritism,” he said.

R. Uthanman, 41, who works in a legal firm, said the local government elections would be a solution to combat corruption more effectively.

“Since we hold the power to choose representatives, we would be able to monitor their performance during the tenure.

“If we find out the elected leaders have questionable integrity, we could always have him replaced in the next elections,” he said.

Businessman Azri Sallehudin, 34, said the local government elections would help the people know their councillors and mayors better.

“Most people and even myself are unaware of who our councillors and mayors are, as we have no hand in picking them for the posts.

“This causes a lack of communication between the local authorities and the people they serve,” he said.

Marine research assistant Chew Siew Moon, 25, said implementing local government elections would advocate greater democratic participation.

She said people would be more concerned in local government issues when they have a say in determining their representatives.

“The people would want to monitor the performance of the representatives they have elected.

“In order to evaluate their performance in the council, they would need to know what is going on in their districts, municipals or cities,” she said.

Chew said the representatives would also play a role as their local leaders in their smaller communities.

Nonetheless, she said that one of the drawbacks of local government election was that, certain quarters would politicise local issues to gain political mileage.

Businessman Loke Hon Mun, 42, prefers to be able to choose his local authorities, but was quite satisfied with the performance of the Gerik District Council that manages his area.

“Since my hometown of Lenggong is small, it is easy for the locals to get to know the local authority and to relate their problems to them.

“Still, I support the notion of having local government elections as I want to elect innovative councillors instead of those that are merely capable at their jobs,” he said.

Food quality inspector Vera Quek, 25, said elections in the local government could ensure a more balanced representatives from various ethnic groups.

“Candidates from different cultural backgrounds would have a chance to contest for a position in the local government.

“It would be best if posts in the local council could be distributed equally to the elected representative from the different ethnic groups,” she said.

Source:

News

Tuesday May 14, 2013

Perak residents want more say in choosing their local representatives

By CHERYL HEW and ELWEEN LOKE metroperak@thestar.com.my

Source:

By CHERYL HEW and ELWEEN LOKE
metroperak@thestar.com.my