“Genuine democracy must provide meaningful space for the people to express their views and to participate in various processes of daily administration and not merely to voting once in five years. All interest groups must be allowed to present and debate their views. Information will be freely available subject to strictly defined restrictions. To this end, we will pass the necessary legislation to provide for local council elections“ – Item 1 of Part B, entitled ‘Build A Genuine Democracy’, of The People’s Declaration.
The People’s Declaration was formally endorsed by DAP, PKR and PAS on 23rd February, 2008, just before the 12th General Elections, without any reservation. The 3 parties must therefore be taken to have agreed to the aspiration of the rakyat to restore local council elections. You can view the video evidence of this endorsement HERE.
“The other key electoral reform that PR pledges to implement relates to the revival of local elections. Local government forms the underpinning of democratic values and public accountability at the grassroots. On March 2, 1965, the then government suspended local government elections in the nation. Since then, it has consistently refused to restore local elections, knowing full well the anti-BN mood of the urban electorate. In the meantime, the present unelected form of local government established under BN rule has engaged in systemic wastage, mismanagement and corruption. PR pledges to reintroduce local government elections as a major step forward in curtailing the inefficiency, power abuse, mismanagement and corruption that is presently endemic in local governments” – as provided in the draft Common Policy Platform for Pakatan Rakyat, prepared by Zaid Ibrahim and presented to the leadership of DAP, PKR and PAS for their consideration.
You will note that the pledge incorporated into the Zaid draft is consistent with the declared aspiration of the rakyat as contained in The People’s Declaration.
“Keberkesanan amalan sistem demokrasi bergantung kepada keutuhan pelaksanaan doktrin pemisahan kuasa. Integriti sesebuah kerajaan bergantung kepada kebebasan, kebolehpercayaan dan kewibawaan institusi-institusi yang diamanahkan untuk menjamin keseimbangan antara cabang eksekutif, kehakiman dan legislatif. Pakatan Rakyat akan mengukuhkan demokrasi kerajaan tempatan dan meningkatkan kecekapan serta keberkesanan sistem penyampaian dan menjamin ketelusan di semua peringkat secara demokratik” – draft Common Policy Platform for Pakatan Rakyat, finalised by the drafting committee of the Pakatan Rakyat secretariat, for deliberation at the Pakatan Rakyat Convention on 19th December, 2009.
I shall be attending the Convention to hear first hand the rationale why the drafting committee of the Pakatan Rakyat secretariat has dropped the pledge, as proposed in the Zaid draft, to restore local council elections, from the Common Policy Platform for Pakatan Rakyat.
I also want to see for myself whether Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives who have assured me that they will be rasing the matter of the restoration of local council elections at the Convention, in fact walk their talk.
The Tiger
December 18, 2009
Bro, I think they should video the whole event and also let the rakyat judge for themselves.
After all, for whatever it was worth one of the reasons for what happened in GE12 was Kerishamuddin’s keris debacle that was telecasted nationwide.
The Tiger
kalambong
December 18, 2009
Sad day for democracy today, Brother Haris !
21 PR parliamentarians were absent from the vote in Dewan Rakyat today, and as a result, PR lost a chance to overturn a bill and make history !!
Here is the list of the shameful 21 bastards:
1)回教党华玲区国会议员泰益阿占慕丁(Taib Azamudden Md Taib)
2)回教党波各先那区国会议员马夫兹(Mahfuz Omar)
3)巴西马独立议员依布拉欣阿里(Ibrahim Ali)
4)行动党峇眼区国会议员林冠英
5)行动党峇都交湾拉玛沙米(P. Ramasamy)
6)公正党峇央峇鲁区国会议员再林(Zahrain Mohamed Hashim)
7)行动党武吉牛汝莪区国会议员卡巴星(Karpal Singh)
8)行动党日落洞区国会议员黄泉安
9)行动党丹绒区国会议员曹观友
10)公正党峇眼色海区国会议员慕辛法兹利(Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri)
11)回教党巴里文打区国会议员慕加希(Mujahid Yusof Rawa)
12)沙巴进步党昔邦加区国会议员依力马贞文(Enchin Majimbun @ Eric)
13)沙巴进步党斗湖区国会议员蔡顺梅
14)公正党鹅唛区国会议员阿兹敏阿里(Mohamed Azmin Ali)
15)回教党乌鲁冷岳区国会议员仄罗斯利(Che Rosli Che Mat)
16)公正党加埔区国会议员马尼卡瓦沙甘(Manikavasagam Sundaram)
17)行动党蒲种区国会议员哥宾星(Gobind Singh Deo)
18)公正党乌鲁雪兰莪区国会议员再纳阿比丁(Zainal Abidin Ahmad)
19)公正党敦拉萨镇区国会议员卡立依布拉欣(Abd Khalid Ibrahim)
20)公正党班底谷区国会议员努鲁依莎(Nurul Izzah Anwar)
21)行动党士布爹区国会议员郭素沁
As I understand, Gobind Singh Deo was barred from entering, that leave 20 of them !
We Rakyat should never forgive these 20 assholes !
Keluit Basari
December 21, 2009
Now u see the truth… PR is no less different ok. Wait till it all begins to shamble.
fizli
December 21, 2009
so all chinese attended
anomie
December 19, 2009
Restoration of the local council election?
Probably MUST over the dead body of the chauvinist (Ha Ha..) Malay M’sians!
LGE split the bean over this issue – PAS & majority of the Malays within PKR objected to this issue.
“The party was forced to backtrack on its promise to restore the local council elections following strong opposition from fellow PR component parties, particularly from PAS.
DAP has been known to be a staunch advocate for the restoration of the local council election while PAS are known to oppose it and PKR are internally frayed on the issue despite having promised to restore the local council vote in its 2008 General Elections manifesto.”
Deep down these people r still closet bigots – 1) for fearing been managed by competent non-Malay M’sians, 2) for the fear of namesake ketuana Melayu, as if within this concept any nincompoop/incompetent Malay M’sian MUST be the leader of the pack!
THAT’S the truth reason of WHY meritocracy is a dirty word for THEM.
Patriot
December 19, 2009
Haris,
PAS wants an Islamic state while DAP says Malaysia is secular. DAP wants local elections while probably PAS no want. The fact that they can sit together and form a coalition with some reasonable although not exactly what we want kind of common policy is already a big achievement. Hope you see that little light and not bang them too much essentially doing BN’s job for them.
Patriot
December 20, 2009
Materwordsmith: “There are many more negative issues that are obvious but to me the positives outweigh the negatives.”
So why can’t Haris focus on the positives instead of just focusing on 1 negative. What about those pledges to place MACC, EC etc. under Parliament and more? Are these not enough to more than counterweight your 1 negative. Furthermore, isn’t there a possibility that one day in the future Pakatan will come round to this local election issue. After all, they have pledge to strengthen local democracy.
Subrapathi
December 20, 2009
Hello Haris Ibrahim, I think you better live in USA or New Zealand and fight for the Maori or go to Singapore and introduce your bloody socialist ideas there, see if they buy your brand of social justice you moron.
siew eng
December 27, 2009
it’s so unfortunate that this blog has no device for reporting abuse. esp from anonymous cowards.
local council is a socialist idea? hello???
siew eng
December 27, 2009
local council elections
kalambong
December 20, 2009
I do not for a minute believe what Lim Guan Eng has said as I have personally dealt with DAP on the local council election issue in Penang.
It is not the objection of PKR nor PAS that the voters in Penang don’t get to elect their own City Council.
No.
It is DAP itself that doesn’t want the local council election to happen.
You see, there are a lot of DAP kakis who want a cut of something, and they want to become city councilman or city councilwoman.
When the idea was voiced to DAP (as they control the Penang state government) the objection from DAP is so strong that everything had to be put in the back-burner.
There are those who even suggested to DAP, that if they don’t want “electioN” we can have something akin to “contest” or whatnot, with end result of voters getting a say on the running of City Council.
Unfortunately that too was shot down, by DAP itself !
So no, I do not buy, even for one second, that DAP wants local council election !
Patriot
December 20, 2009
See, Haris, why we must not be too rigid:
PAS: Time not right to register PR
Third vote dominates Selangor DAP
joehancl
December 21, 2009
“The People’s Declaration was formally endorsed by DAP, PKR and PAS on 23rd February, 2008, just before the 12th General Elections, without any reservation. The 3 parties must therefore be taken to have agreed to the aspiration of the rakyat to restore local council elections. You can view the video evidence of this endorsement HERE.” Right on harry, you are the best in civil society. All the best in the new year, 2010.
Shakuntala
December 23, 2009
How entirely iarresponsible this resistance to local council elections and all the fuss that goes on, by the powers that be.
How absurd, to stop the right of the people to have their aspirations and needs met via their local councillors.
And the Constitution of this country recognizes and has assigned powers to local councils.
So, how in heaven’s name is this country a true democracy, while it unconstitutionally bars local council elections?
Do those in power realize the invaluable experience that would be gained by Councillors at the local level. These would be the best people to later, contest the state and federal elections because of their maturity and responsibility as individuals.
They would be directly responsible to the ra’ayat and have to face them, when they opt for re-election.
Elected local councillors are part and parcel of a democracy…any well meaning country daring to call itself a democracy cannot advance and develop further without allowing the people to elect their chosen representatives through whom they can realize their power as a people.
This is what Makka Sakthi is all about and that is a right the people have, in any mature democracy.
kalambong
December 24, 2009
Dear Brother Haris,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !
Lazarus
December 24, 2009
People continue to believe lies and the amazing stories spun by bloggers or news sites heavily linked to the Opposition.
We had the amazing story of Najib being linked to Altantuya. One politician even said he has a photo of Najib, Abdul Razak Baginda and Altantuya together in Paris.
Together with this “master piece”, there was also a fugitive blogger (Raja Petra) who claimed Rosmah was at the scene and monitored the murder (or should I say blasting ?) of Altantuya…More http://manifestogwl.blogspot.com/2009/12/lies-against-najib.html
kalambong
December 25, 2009
Bro Haris,
Someone post this on Susan Loone’s blog:
Najib’s talk about making a police report and passing the files to the AG for action exposes a glaring point about his intentions to take action or inaction. The PDRM and AG can only act against civilians, local or foreign, who were involved in the theft. Uniformed officers in the service at the time are subject to Military Law, even if they have been cashiered since then.
Military courts are under the Judge Advocate General of the Malaysian Armed forces, the Gujerati AG has no authority over them.
There has been NO Court Martial of the officers and enlisted men involved.
…
There’s a lot more to Engine-gate than meets the eye….its not entirely improbable that Najis or someone very high up is involved in it right to his eyebrows.
fizli
January 1, 2010
Seen great deal of Racism act by the respondent of this blog. Found 1 too many angers about Malay in their own heartland.
ttc
January 2, 2010
Haris, howdee! 🙂
All here simply wanted to visit here to see if you were perchance around here so that we could wish you a very happy 8) EIGHTH day of Christmas out of the twelve happy annual Christmasdays and also to wish you all the very best for the very FIRST happy day of the new 2010 year.
Anyways, take care 🙂 good Haris wherever you are out there in the big and wide yonder and keep safe okay from the myriad lot of yukky 😦 UMNO/BN and even yukkier Keystone Kop 😦 nasties lurking out there.
And here is an umpteen lot of happy 8) CHEERS just for you before we say cheerio and 🙂 adios for now Amigo Haris!
WE SAY YEAH! & NO TO ISA! 😛 & HARIS FOR AG & RPK FOR IGP! GO FOR DSAI FOR PM & LKS FOR DPM & KIND WAN AZIZAH FOR HOME MINISTER.
2010 Resolution: Say “Enough is Enough!” & NO! to all garbage & nonsense! Please save the coral reefs and the good fishies plus also the pretty kelip kelip fireflies, kind orang utans, tigers of fearful symmetry and their rainforest habitats.
abu sayab
January 4, 2010
Local Council’s Election .. do they not need the Federal Govt. permission??