In a response to an article published in the New Straits Times today, headlined 'Kedah says no to local polls', Tan asked Pakatan to clarify if it wants local government elections in all its four states.
“There is no point for Pakatan Rakyat to continue talking about local government elections if it is not even sincere in implementing this in all (its) states,” Tan said in the statement.
He noted that a mere letter to the Election Commission would not absolve Pakatan from fulfilling its pledge to implement local government elections.
The NST report had quoted Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Razak as saying that the state would not reintroduce local government elections as the current practice of having political appointees as councillors serves the fine. He claimed that it is easier to get things done the traditional way, as the councillors are “their own people”.
PAS Youth chief Nasruddin Hassan echoed the view in a Harakah Daily report headlined 'Local government elections are not suitable at this time'.
In the past week, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (left) and Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim (right) have confirmed their commitment to restore local government elections. On March 9, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak shot down the plan, saying it is unnecessary to hold local government elections as this would cause too much politicking.
courtesy of Malaysiakini
No comments:
Post a Comment