'We have heard and seen many cases of council 'chieftains' and members wielding extraordinary power, amassing wealth and living lavishly. The people must be given their democratic rights to purge these 'local warlords'.
PM: Local gov't polls unnecessary
Doc: I guess Umno and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak are suffering from a bad case of election allergy , or "electionitis".
Basically, Najib is worried that if the local elections results go in favour of Pakatan Rakyat, the rakyat will get bolder and vote for more Pakatan candidates in future elections, especially the 13th general elections.
Unfortunately, in turning down Pakatan's request to hold local elections, Umno will be viewed as being against giving the rakyat the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to choose their representatives.
Kudos to Pakatan in making this bold move to restore local council elections! However, there is the possibility that Pakatan candidates may lose and this scenario will be exploited by Umno to emphasise opposition's weaknesses.
Yuvan: The prime minister has got it wrong. Local government elections will not cause too much politicking. On the contrary, it will put a stop to the excessive politicking and gross abuse of power that is rampant in many local/municipal councils.
We have heard and seen many cases of council 'chieftains' and members wielding extraordinary power and amassing wealth and living lavishly. The people must be given their democratic rights to purge these 'local warlords', and the only way it can be done is through the proper process of holding elections for local government positions.
The BN keeps talking about principles of good governance at all levels of government administration. If it truly believes in what it preaches, then it should whole-heartedly support local government elections - unless of course, it is afraid of losing its candidates and its dignity there too.
Baiyuensheng: Could what he said be true? How is Pakatan going to refute this? Until now, I still don't understand how an elected local council would work. It will be an administrative nightmare if one party governs the state, another party leads the local council.
Lim Chong Leong: ‘Too much politicking' means it would cost the BN too much to hand out goodies and ‘angpows' to buy votes, without which, under the present atmosphere, they would not win any single council.
Najib, please face it, you have no guts to face the people you claim to lead.
Not confused: Now, isn't that a surprise! Too much politicking? I thought that's what a democracy was all about?
What he really means is that it will bring the rakyat closer to their local representatives and expose more of the corruption that is the hallmark of all BN activities. It will also engage the rakyat in politics generally - something he doesn't want, for very obvious reasons.
Rajm: Umno still has not learnt its lesson. Listen to the rakyat, who chose Pakatan, for a change. One of the promises in their election manifesto is to implement local council elections. Why, Najib, do you have to go against the rakyat's will?
Perak Boleh: Prime Minister, tell me if I am wrong to assume that what you mean is that Malaysia is no longer a democratic country and that elections of any type, general, state or local council elections, is unnecessary and cause too much politicking.
What you really want is complete iron-fisted dictatorship where you appoint only your cronies to run the administration to your whim and fancy and where the prime minister controls the monarchy to benefit only himself.
Kgen: This must be the first time a political party runs away from politicking. There's something not right about local council positions. Local councillors are paid RM500 - RM750 per month, but the positions are hotly contested by political appointees. Is there something behind town councillorships that we don't know about?
BN, obviously, does not want Pakatan states to hold local government polls because BN would not be able to follow suit. Council positions are political spoils to be distributed to party members.
'No local elections': Gerakan, Pakatan tick off PM
Disgusted: Umno is running scared and don't want local councils elections for fear that BN-backed candidates will be humiliated and fail miserably. They should grab this opportunity to put a foothold by way of their candidates in Pakatan-held councils, if they had the confidence to do so, but they don't. They only know how to use their compliant press to badmouth, sabotage and harass Pakatan governments.
Najib does not have the guts to face the opposition in Penang, Perak, Selangor or even in some states where BN is currently in power such as Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Malacca and even, perhaps, Johor. Yet, he says BN is gaining the support of the rakyat.
If he is so confident of BN winning, he should call for snap elections and test his popularity with the rakyat instead of playing gutter politics by bribing and blackmailing Pakatan MPs and state assembly members into jumping ship and betraying the rakyat's trust placed upon them for their own self-interests.
CK: Tan Keng Liang, I salute you, as you dare to advise the PM on this issue. Do Kedah Gerakan, Penang Gerakan or Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon support you on this? If they don't, you're finished.
Karma: If PM Najib is sincere about 1Malaysia, he should allowed the elections in order to develop strong checks and balances.
Good governance comes from good politicking. In government, politics is a given.
Isn't it politicking when Pakatan state assembly members in Penang, Selangor and Perak are harassed? Wasn't the Perak fiasco (the culmination of) harassment?
Ukisok: Even Palestinians have the freedom to choose local government representatives, even though under occupation.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only Malaysiakini subscribers can post comments. Over the past six months, Malaysiakinians have posted 50,000 comments. Be part of the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .
