No-go for local council polls
Reinstating them may stir racial conflict, PM cautions
PUTRAJAYA: The government will not reinstate local council elections, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said having polls for local councils may cause racial-related conflicts in the country.
“Local council elections may produce the wrong results.
“The urban may be different, the rural may be different ... there will be conflicts emphasised by racial differences and the likes.
“We don’t want that to happen. No council elections,” Dr Mahathir said at a press conference after opening the Housing and Local Government Ministry’s Empowerment of Local Authorities convention here.
Shortly after Pakatan Harapan captured Putrajaya, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said they would look into implementing local government elections in the next three years after the economy stabilises.
Malaysia suspended local government elections in 1965.
Dr Mahathir also told civil servants, including those in local author- ities, to strictly adhere to their workflow chart to prevent the possibility of corruption.
“If something should be completed in three days, it must be completed in three days,” he said.
He added that when a process is delayed, it may encourage the applicant to bribe the civil servant to speed up the process.
“When some officers know about this, they might purposely delay the process as they know some people are willing to offer bribes,” he noted.
Dr Mahathir, however, said corruption in the civil service was “very, very low” since Pakatan took over the government.
“We have not really received any reports of corruption since the new government took over.
“As you know, during the old government’s time, everyone talked about corruption in the government.
“In a way, we have succeeded in reducing incidences of corruption. Of course, there may still be corruption that remains undetected,” he added.