KUCHING: Sarawak does not need to hold local council elections because the current system of appointment is “sufficiently inclusive”.
That’s the view of Dr Simon Sindang Bada (pic), a political secretary to the chief minister, when asked for his comments on calls by several leaders of Pakatan Harapan (PH) to hold council elections in Sarawak.
Dr Simon said the current system of appointment of mayors, chairmen and councillors has been in place for more than 50 years and proven to be effective.
“We can always tweak and refine, but there is not need to change a proven system,” said Dr Sindang, adding that the last council elections were held way back in 1964 because of the Borneo confrontation.
“Since then, councillors have been appointed by the government of the day from the various ethnic groups, political parties and NGOs for inclusiveness.
“Right to this day, Sarawak has no issues with the administration and management of local councils which remains one of the driving forces of development for the state,” said Dr Sindang.
He said PH politicians are calling for the reinstatement of local council elections because it was part of the coalition’s GE14 manifesto.
“PH won in Penang, Selangor and several other states, if they are serious about wanting local government elections, they should implement that in these states where they are the government.
“Why force on Sarawak something that has not been proven?
“If they can prove that it’s the best way to manage the city councils, municipal councils and district councils, Sarawak can always adopt that later.
“As of now, the current prime minister and the federal Cabinet are not in favour of council elections. They said more in-depth study has to be carried out.”
Dr Sindang further said, “We have enough of politicking, why politicise councillor appointments?
“Any election, be it parliamentary election, state or council elections, will cost us a huge sums of money. We do well to use our energy and resources to serve the community.”
