12 theSun | MONDAY APRIL 20 2009

speak up!

The unfulfilled
village heads after the sitting has never been minister, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan
state administration was opened for debate so far. told Parliament that the govern-
“more established”. “We I said while the whole ment has no plans to reintroduce
cannot afford a sudden world is decentralising local government elections.
disruption in services by power to local govern- Elections, he argued, were not
acting hastily,” Mentri ments, our government a guarantee that the local authori-
Besar Tan Sri Abdul is doing the opposite. ties would become more efficient

promises
So, what’s there to celebrate about
100 days? Has anything changed
substantially? Did we the rakyat
expect changes overnight? No, they
made the promises. They published
their manifestoes in which they
outlined their grandiose ideas and
plans. Have they been fulfilled? Do
a comparison and judge for your-
selves.
THESE words appeared in this
column last June when appraising
the first 100 days of Pakatan rule
in Selangor, Perak and Penang.
Now, more than 400 days later, has
anything changed? Have the pledges
been fulfilled. Lest this columnist is
accused of being a Pakatan-basher
who has gone back on his policy of
not touching race, religion or poli-
tics, let it be made clear that the is-
sue of local government elections is
not about politics but citizens’ rights
– an issue that is close to everyone’s
heart.
The DAP and PKR 2008 general
election manifestos both listed lo-
cal government elections as a key
promise. There is a dire need to
have different political roles at the
local government, state government
and at the parliamentary level. In
most countries, Members of Par-
liament don’t take care of drains.
Instead, they monitor laws, make
sure policies are implemented and
public funds not wasted.
Those who campaigned on the
platform that they would re-intro-
duce local goverment elections seem
to have reneged on their promises
or have conveniently chosen to for-
get their election promises or what
they had previously advocated.
In February 2005, Lim Guan
Eng speaking to DAP leaders said:
“We must restore local government
elections for the sake of democracy,
good governance, rule of law, ac-
countability and transparency.”
Three weeks after the new Selangor
government took office in March
last year, it was announced that the
state would move towards holding
elections for local councillors and
Khalid Ibrahim was
quoted as saying. Are we
by implication being told
that administration as
“yet to be established”? CitizenNades way of improving the
Former Subang Jaya by R. Nadeswaran
state assemblyman
Datuk Lee Hwa Beng be-
lieves that direct election is the only
solution for the numerous problems
highlighted by ratepayers, over the
years. He is the only BN politician
to have gone on record demanding
for reinstatement of local govern-
ment elections. Lee, who had been
a councillor for 15 years, nine years
with the Petaling Jaya Municipal
Council and six years with Subang
Jaya, says elections will make
councillors more accountable and
this would bring about the much-
needed change.
Seputeh MP and state exco mem-
ber Teresa Kok has been quoted
as saying that the unrepresenta-
tive nature of local governments
has resulted in local authorities
becoming arrogant, high-handed,
lackadaisical and unaccountable to
the people.
Kok has gone on record in her
blog by publishing excerpts of her
speech in Parliament in 2007: “I
criticised Parliament that my mo-
tion on reviving local government
elections that I presented in every
This reflects the degree
of inefficiency of our
local governments.
“I said the proper
service of local govern-
ments is not through
usurping power from lo-
cal governments but by reviving the
elections of local governments and
letting the people elect their mayor
and local councillors. The service
of local governments can only be
improved if there is competition
and challenges during elections.”
Now that she is on the other side
in being a lawmaker in Selangor,
there’s hardly a whimper. It ap-
pears that appointed councillors
are a good thing for all – irrespec-
tive of which side of the House you
sit. It will be unfair to single out
Kok. Despite all the rhetoric, has
anyone – Guan Eng, Khalid and all
the others who rode on the “local
government elections” bandwagon,
made a concerted effort to honour
their words? Are they afraid that
such a move would prevent them
from dishing out positions to their
supporters and party workers?
They can hide behind the notion
(not a fact) that it needs a change
in federal laws to implement such
a move. In November last year, the
then housing and local government
because efficiency was also deter-
mined by a dynamic leadership,
well-trained workforce as well as
simplified and cost-effective work
procedures.
“It is also determined by sustain-
able town planning, standardised
rules and regulations, efficient
management of funds and resources
as well as effective implementation
of development projects,” he said
in reply to a written question from
Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) in the De-
wan Rakyat.
So, did they make a promise
knowing that they could not keep?
Nevertheless, the Pakatan govern-
ment, at least in Selangor has in its
possession, expert opinion on how
it could call for elections without
consent from the federal govern-
ment. Under such circumstances,
the inevitable questions are: Were
they serious when they campaigned
on such a platform or are they afraid
of facing the people again?
R. Nadeswaran is an advocate of
having an elected third-tier of gov-
ernment and has made his stand
clear in his columns and at public
forums. He is editor (special and
investigative reporting) at theSun.
He can be reached at: citizen-nades@
thesundaily.com

letters
letters@thesundaily.com If it does this, I am sure MCA
will get better support from the
rakyat.
Crucial for Umno members
Nationalise all toll highways On this note, the MCA could

I WOULD like to congratulate

the MCA on its proposal that
the government buys over the
North-South Expressway and
makes it toll-free.
Toll payment is a burden to
the rakyat even though we have
to admit that we get the benefit
of a smoother and safer ride.
However, I would urge the
MCA and other concerned par-
ties to also try to convince the
government to buy over all the
toll concession companies and
make Malaysia toll free.
The MCA has made the first
move with the expressway. It
should now go all the way in ask-
ing the government to buy over
all toll concession companies.
also do the rakyat a big favour
by pressuring the government
and Tenaga Nasional to review
the agreements with Independ-
ent Power Producers which are
seen as lopsided and benefiting
the IPPs at the expense of the
rakyat.
Welfare State
Kuala Lumpur
to buy into 1Malaysia
DATUK Seri Mohd Najib Abdul
Razak has eloquently stressed
the mantras of “mutual trust”
and “respect” (“going beyond
tolerance”) on his “1Malaysia”
concept. This is a commend-
able initial effort.
There appears a willingness
to jettison some of his previous
convictions and embrace new
ones that are more attuned to
the “now generation”, political
realities and the globalised
economy.
It is clear the prime minister
seeks to garner “quick wins”. To
date, we see the partial release
of ISA detainees, appointment
of an additional minister and
deputy minister for Gerakan
and MCA respectively, his pub-
lic relations’ (PR) walkabout in
Petaling Street and Brickfields,
visit to the office of Sin Chew
daily and a Sikh gurdwara for
the Vaisakhi celebration.
He is certainly working
very hard on the perceived
“perception” problem. Critics,
however, will argue that the
benefits of the PR blitz could go
up in smoke like an overdone
sizzling steak, if there is over-
exposure. Indeed, there was an
expert in journalism who, in a
different context, went on air
recently to warn of the danger
of an “overkill”, if and when
the mainstream media goes
lopsided in its reporting.
Meanwhile, some quarters
are also venturing to predict
there could be more “goodies”
in store, eg award of PSD schol-
arships, appointment of top of-
ficials in the civil service, as well
as tackling the highly sensitive
issues such as amendments
to laws (as alluded by the new
home minister), perceived
corruption and transparency
issues, potential nationalisation
of certain toll highways, and
even the New Economic Policy,
etc. Such forward-looking and
bold reforms, if they do mate-
rialise in one form or another,
are stuff of what is called the
dawning of “Malaysia Baru”.
Beyond these, some are
wondering if the prime minister
would in due course also flesh
out his own ideas concerning
his plans on things such as meri-
tocracy, equal opportunities for
all who work hard (ie can the
rakyat truly live the “Malaysian
Dream”?), enhanced public
delivery system, etc. It would
be interesting to hear the prime
minister’s views on such mat-
ters of national importance.
All these, political analysts
postulated, may form a phased
approach and deliberate stra-
tegic initiative in the build-up
to the next general election,
provided the strong political
will could be further sustained.
Indeed, there is not much
time left; hence there appears
to be a sense of urgency or
frenzy about it all. The unmis-
takable goal is to win back and
solidify the rakyat’s support.
Meanwhile, it would be to
the prime minister’s advan-
tage if he could spell out his
overt plans and report on his
progress, specifically in convert-
ing his own Umno members
on the “1Malaysia” concept.
This is crucial because without
undivided Umno top leader-
ship and grassroots support, it
would be tough for the concept
to make further headway. The
rakyat wish him all the luck in
this endeavour.
Barisan Nasional component
parties, it seemed, would also
need to be very clear on the
principles and practicalities of
the “1Malaysia” concept. One
can expect the concept to be
fine-tuned with feedback.
In this regard, the prime
minister is expected to make
explicitly clear the practical
meaning of the “1Malaysia”
concept for all Malaysians
regardless of race, religious
beliefs and ideologies (or “one
team” in his words). The rakyat
appear to be tired of sloganeer-
ing, whichever party may be
spewing out the slogans.
The bottom-line question
is how rapid, substantive, fair-
minded, equitable, transparent
and honest the implementation
of the detailed plans will ulti-
mately be. Najib’s KPI initiative
is to be lauded in this regard,
provided the right and relevant
strategies are pursued.
Needless to add, the
rakyat are eagerly waiting for
the prime minister’s plans to
be unveiled in the short and
long-term for the greater good
of the nation and the rakyat.
If forward-looking plans are
implemented properly, it could
also potentially deepen the
political maturity of the nation
and give the Pakatan Rakyat
(PR) a run for its money.
The PR would then have to
show the rakyat that its part-
nership is viable, credible and
sustainable for the long-term.
Its partners will have to prove
to all Malaysians if they are will-
ing to jettison certain aspects of
their entrenched extreme posi-
tions. Finally, PR would need to
clearly articulate a competing
visionary and inspiring vision
to capture the imagination of
all Malaysians, as well as its
concrete strategic plans in tak-
ing Malaysia to greater heights,
beyond merely criticising the
“1Malaysia” concept.
As in the Champions League,
the best team that performs
to expectations will win the
trophy.
K. Bob
Kuala Lumpur