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3rd in WDC’s 5-Part Series on Forwarding Women’s Rights and Democracy
Women and Local Council Elections

The Prime Minister said “There appear to be elements within our society who are uncomfortable with the advancement of women. They try to obstruct the progress of women through barriers and strictures legitimised in the name of religion or culture.… It is not the religious principle or cultural value they cite which is the problem. It is the way in which it is misinterpreted and misapplied that causes problems for women, and by extension, for society.” (Speech delivered at the Women’s Institute of Management, Kuala Lumpur, 2005).

What you can do:
• Meet or write to your local Member of Parliament (MP) and State Assembly Representative.

• Write to the Local Councillor to make your views heard.

• Form groups to discuss your concerns, or join Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in their campaigns.

Urge them to act to:
• Amend the Local Government Act 1976. Lobby Members of Parliament, especially the Ministers of Housing and Local Government, and Women, Family and Community Development.

• Conduct awareness raising campaigns to inform the public of the importance of bringing back local council elections.

• Impose quotas, as a temporary affirmative action, to ensure a critical mass of women in local councils.

• Appoint more women to local councils now, so that when elections are reinstated, there will be a pool of women with on the job experience as potential candidates.

• Appoint members of sectoral or special interest groups to the local councils so that there is greater community representation.

Local councils are one of the smallest forms of government in Malaysia. They play important roles in daily lives. Local councillors are appointed by the State Government
– they are not elected.

How is Malaysia governed?
• Malaysia is a federation made up of 13 States and 3 Federal Territories.

• There are three levels of Government: Federal, State and Local.

• The Prime Minister and his Cabinet lead the Federal Government. It administers areas such as foreign affairs, defence, internal security and the justice system.

• Chief Ministers lead the State Assemblies to form State Governments, which manage land matters, the practice of Islam and Local Government. The work of local councils Local councils are responsible for making decisions on behalf of the local community about local services such as land use, refuse collection, transportation, leisure facilities, and public health. The work of the Federal and Local Governments are inter-related, and often overlap. According to The Edge Malaysia report by Siow, C.M. on 22 December 2003, the 144 local councils have a combined expenditure of more than RM13 billion.

Key Concerns
1. Why were local council elections stopped?
• There were local council elections from pre-independent days until the 1960s.

• These were stopped because the Government felt that:
- there was maladministration and malpractice
- local council elections would hamper national unity and development
- local council elections would complicate the decision-making process and be costly.

2. Local councillors should be elected, in order to:
• ensure transparency in the decision-making process and to make councils accountable to the local residents, since their projects are funded by people who pay taxes and rates. Local councils are not even accountable to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.

• help combat corruption. A Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department admitted that corruption is at its worst among the local authorities, from rubbish collection to grass cutting, and especially in the area of construction according to a Sunday Star report on 18 September 2005.

• open up more democratic spaces to encourage participatory democracy and a more consultative process. Women would find it easier to participate in local councils as they are already involved with community issues.

• highlight issues close to women’s hearts and deal with them more effectively. Women’s issues are broad and affect the whole community. These issues range from the environment, childcare, public transport system to the rising crime rate.

• have women in decision-making positions. They will serve as role models for the younger generation, especially for the girls.

• act as a stepping-stone for citizens, especially women, to compete in the State and Federal elections.

Poor management and questionable conduct of local councils:
The Klang Municipal Council, which proposed buying 10 thoroughbred horses from Australia at a cost of RM250,000 for its new horse crime unit, even though crime prevention falls under the purview of the Federal Government.

The Subang Jaya Municipal Council, which built public toilets that cost RM90,000 each.

The Ipoh Municipal Council, which bought 200 parking meters that cost RM34,000 each.

The Penang Municipal Council, whose projects include a single lane Autopont flyover in Jalan Masjid Negeri which cost RM7.95 million, and the RM1.02 billion Penang Outer Ring Road project.

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall, which paid for granite kerbs which cost RM542 per metre, when concrete kerbs cost only RM27.
(Source: Newspaper articles from The Star and The Edge, 2003-2005).

3. Why do we need women in local councils?
• Poor representation in the whole decision making process. In the 2004 elections, only 23 women were elected, forming a mere 10.5% of the 219-seat Parliament. Just 32 out of 505 members of the State Assemblies are women (6.3%). (Women Monitoring Election Candidates, 2004). Women constitute an average of 10 per cent of local councils. (The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific: Human Settlements – UN ESCAP). This means that many women’s issues and concerns, which affect the community as a whole, do not get addressed.

• It is a strategic step to increase the participation of women in the democratic process and in decision-making.