Autonomy should not be reason to oppose — Bersih

Bersih Sarawak cautions against using Sarawak autonomy as a blanket argument to oppose policy decisions by the federal government.

Chairperson Ann Teo said Bersih Sarawak viewed with great concern the recent statement by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg that Sarawak government would not comply with the federal government’s proposal to implement local council elections.

“The chief minister cited Sarawak autonomy on local government and Malaysia Agreement 1963 as the main reason for his refusal.

“While we do not dispute that power over local government, administration and elections are in the hands of the state under the State List as enshrined in our Federal Constitution, we believe that state autonomy should not be used as a blanket argument to oppose policy decisions emanating from the federal side,” she said in a statement on Thursday.

Teo opined that reinstating local council elections will not only encourage and increase citizens’ participation in local governance but also give Sarawakians a voice on issues that concern them.

Some of the issues, she said are affordable housing, town or rural planning, public transportation, public health, sanitation and environment including forest management.

“Elected councillors as opposed to ones nominated or appointed by political parties will mean they are accountable to the ratepayers and locals who elect them.

“Issues can be better aired and heard by elected councillors, hence decision-making would be more reflective of the wishes of the locals,” she pointed out.

She said Sarawak has a long history of local council election starting from 1948 under the Local Authorities Ordinance 1948 and the Local Government Elections Ordinance 1948.

The then Kuching Municipal Council (KMC) held its first councillors elections in 1956 during the colonial rule, she said.

“Because the elected council is accountable to the locals, the KMC flats were built in 1957 that we can still see it today in the centre of Kuching City.

“Here we like to remind our chief minister and all Sarawakians that the first chief minister of Sarawak, the late Stephen Kalong Ningkan was once an elected district councillor, then a divisional councillor before he was a member of the State Legislature and Supreme Council in 1963,” she added.

She said, as members of civil society, Bersih wished to see more active participation from Sarawakians in local council administration.

At present, she said the community is kept in the dark on most development of the local and environmental issues, local resource and forest management including land development.

“Again, we are not disputing with the chief minister about Sarawak’s autonomy on local government administration. We would like to suggest that if the chief minister is sincere in championing Sarawak autonomy and the rights for all Sarawakians, he should consider policies which promote and uphold ideals of good governance such as accountability, transparency, promote greater grassroots participation and opportunities for local leadership development,” she stressed.

She believed that having effective and accountable local councillors and mayors would also free up the state assemblymen or MPs to focus on policy-making and law-making.

In this way, she said lawmakers will not have to face complaints and handle issues that are within the purview of local councils and councillors.

“Thus bringing back local government elections and strengthening local authorities can only be a good thing for politicians. The on-going efforts by the state for devolution of powers from federal government must also mean some of state powers can be devolved to the lower levels of governance and local authorities.”

As such, Teo called upon the state and the minister in charge of local government to lead the way and bring back local government elections in Sarawak.