YOURSAY ‘There is nothing undemocratic about local government elections.’

Local gov’t is all about democracy, stupid

 

Local gov’t polls ‘undemocractic’, says NGOyrsaylocal council Oh Ya?: If PAS’ argument carries any water, its influence will remain in the ‘kampung’ hinterlands of Kelantan and Terengganu and nothing else.Would it thrive in Selangor and even Penang if the voters in these two states have voted strictly alone racial lines?

Isn’t the racial representation and power sharing much superior in the democratically elected Selangor and Penang state governments than Putrajaya whose racial representation is cosmetic and shored up by backdoor appointments?

And if they really believe in power sharing, Umno should not be claiming the lion share and should have appointed its East Malaysians partners, which bailed them out in last two elections, to important posts, no least the DPM’s post.

Imanust Nais Yalam: “If minority groups are not represented, that is also not democratic…,” said Pemikir president Abdul Aziz Mohd Yassin.

What about the five Muslim Malay judges who recently delivered the final verdict on the ‘Allah’ ban? Democratic?

What about the overwhelmingly Malay cabinet’s decision not to act on Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali’s ‘burn the bible’ threat? Democratic?

Basically: Local government doesn’t need racial representation, idiots. Those elected are tasked to take care of the residential areas where we live.

It doesn’t matter whether those living there are majority Malay or Indian or Chinese, they have a right to elect the person who is to work for them to clear their drains, etc.

Those people who are afraid of residents electing their own representatives only fear one thing – losing control of the local contracts that they now monopolise because they are the ones who decide, not the people, and the people can’t boot them out when they have done a rotten job, like DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) now.

How KLites would love to vote the DBKL mayor out. But we can’t, because of morons like Pemikir and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

2Kali5: Indeed, there is nothing undemocratic about local government elections.

All that these people are trying to justify is that they want to control everything – in wanting to appoint themselves to positions.

So United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere are practicing undemocratic local council elections?

Clearwater: What a load of sanctimonious crap. Ask yourself whether the minority Orang Asli are represented in Parliament by one of their own all these years and why you are not upset by this so obviously undemocratic anomaly.

Ranjita Kaur Whitemoon: Fine, if you bigots want to talk about race, let’s talk race.

Who are the majority in Malaysia? Who are the minority? Who will benefit most? Majority or minority?

Old Timer: How come when something good and sought by the rakyat (such as abolish Sedition Act, holding local elections, fair elections, etc), all these Malay-centric NGOs such as Pemikir, Perkasa, Perkida and Isma are against it.

What a strange country. As Malaysians, we should think Malaysian, not Malay, not Chinese, not Indian, not any race. How can Malaysia ever progress?

Thinking Citizen_1403620863: It is strange that any suggestion that will improve and promote good governance and the welfare of the people will somehow cause racial tension.

Is it alright for bad governance and the country being looted as long as it is done by Malays?

Come on, are they implying that it is alright for Malays to cheat other Malays? After all, the majority of the population is Malays.

I’m not trying to be cynical but it appears to be what these politicians are trying to say.

Fairnsquare: United States President Barack Obama is of African American origin. He was voted in by the majority of white Americans because ability rather than race overrides racial boundaries.

When will we ever learn to be wise? Malaysians must wake and not continue to be a pawn of racial politics.

Joe Lee: Yet another group of Malay racists who cannot handle giving a little more democratic space to Malaysians.

‘Ketuanan Melayu’ (Malay supremacy) ala Umno is the name of their game. When will these people accept that the Federal Constitution is for all Malaysians? These ’eminent persons’ should be ashamed of themselves.

JooGuan: If non-representation could happen in local government elections, isn’t this be even more severe and rampant at state and federal levels?

I believe the logic is to eliminate all elections and just let BN to continue govern Malaysia forever. Is that the intention?

 


The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakinisubscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakinisubscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.