For Justice, Freedom & Solidarity PP3739/12/2010(025927) ISSN 0127 - 5127 RM4.00 2010:Vol.30No.4 Aliran Monthly : Vol.30(4) Page 1 COVER STORY Restoring the Third Vote, reclaiming our democracy If the Local Government Act stands in the way, then it must go. It is not because we are lawless but because we value democracy by Tan Pek Leng he fate of local elections Penang City Council TT in Malaysia is a sad re- TTT flection of the state of democracy in the coun- try. Never having had the chance to be firmly rooted, it was rudely trampled upon when it attempted to grow, leaving it mangled, hidup segan mati tak mahu. A testimony of our failed state is how our democratic rights are reversed rather than advanced. The third vote, our constitu- tional birth right as a nation, was forcibly taken away - no, not in the interest of the citi- zenry, but as a political expedi- ency by the ruling coalition to ernments from the restrictions The question is: why are we al- cripple the legitimate Opposi- imposed by Section 15 of the same lowing ourselves to be dictated by tion. More than half a century act and thus allow them to invoke a piece of legislation of such ques- after Independence, we are bat- the LGEA to restore local elec- tionable legitimacy? tling to get back to square one – tions?” to get back this third vote. A look at the process that culmi- This legal conundrum appears to nated in the promulgation of the Much of the recent discourse on have got the Pakatan Rakyat State LGA will lay bare the many anti- how to restore local elections re- Governments tangled in knots for democratic acts that abetted it. volves around what the law al- a while. The Perak and Selangor lows and what it doesn’t. “Does state governments attempted to cut Thirteen years Section 15 of the Local Govern- the Gordian Knot by asking the of local elections ment Act 1976 (LGA) override the Elections Commission (EC) to Local Government Election Act conduct local elections in their It is the height of irony that the 1960 (LGEA) and thus prohibit all respective states, only to be told Umno-MCA coalition (the precur- local elections?” “Does Section 1 by the EC that this would be sor to the Umno-MCA-MIC Alli- of the LGA exempt the State Gov- against the law. ance and subsequently the Aliran Monthly : Vol.30(4) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE Bring back local council elections! That’s the theme of Tan Pek Leng’s cover story exploring the quest to CONTENTS reclaim our democracy. If the Local Government Act stands in the way, then it must go, she says; it is not because we are lawless but because we value our COVER STORY democracy. ••• Restoring The Third Vote 222 ••• Local Gov't Polls Can Be Held 888 Actually, a team of legal experts have advised the Penang government that it is legally possible to hold FEATURES local government elections, reports Francis Loh. The ••• Penang's Red Letter Day For Penang government will now have to decide Democracy.......................................... 101010 whether to seek a court declaration on the issue. ••• Penang's Speakers' Square: A Step Forward.................................. 131313 The quest for democracy received a boost with the ••• Climate Warming: The Present outcome of the Sibu by-election. Ngu Ik Tien inter- Original Sin?...................................... 141414 views a couple of Sarawakians on the implications ••• Zunar, The Multifaceted of the result. Before polling day, Ik Tien had cor- Cartoonist........................................... 191919 rectly detected the shift in voter sentiment among ••• Whither The Sibu Chinese Voters? 282828 ordinary Sibu residents who were seeking change. ••• The DAP Night in Sibu: An Observation................................. 292929 Another milestone in the struggle was recorded in ••• I Help You, You Help Me................ 313131 Penang, where a Speakers’ Square was launched ••• Komtar's International on 4 May. Angeline Loh reports on the historic oc- Community Marketplace................ 323232 casion while Toh Kin Woon describes it as a step ••• The Battle For Thailand................... 343434 forward. Another fairly new attraction in Penang ••• Reflections On The Sibu has to be the ‘Asean community market’ in Komtar, By-Election......................................... 404040 where migrants from the region have set up a vi- brant hive of community shops and local businesses. REGULARS ••• Thinking Allowed 242424 The struggle for democratic space is also visible in ••• Current Concerns 383838 the arts. CY interviews cartoonist extraordinaire Zunar, who hopes to generate more young artists OTHERSOTHERSOTHERS who can shape history through their cartoons. ••• Subscription Form 181818 ••• An Evening With Aliran 393939 But the world as we know it could be history if we don’t do something about global warming. Tissa Balasuriya calls on the various world religions to work Published by together to prevent the crisis from getting worse. Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN)(ALIRAN)(ALIRAN) 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, Aliran is an organisation for ‘social democratic reform’. We advocate freedom, justice and Penang, Malaysia. solidarity; comment critically on social issues, offer Tel: (04) 658 5251 Fax: (04) 658 5197 analysis and alternative ideas keeping in mind Email (Letters to Editor): the national and global picture based on universal [email protected] human rights and spiritual values. We are listed on the on the roster of the Economic and Social Council of Email (General): [email protected] the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran Homepage : http://www.aliran.com welcomes all Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contact the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage. Printed by Konway Industries Sdn. Bhd. Plot 78, Lebuhraya Kampung Jawa, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang Aliran Monthly : Vol.30(4) Page 3 Barisan Nasional) first laid claim vote but more than double the to fame in the 1952 Kuala Lumpur number of seats. Gerrymandering municipal elections, when it won was already well entrenched nine of the 11 seats. The Alliance within a few years of Indepen- continued to perform well for the dence. next few years because the oppo- sition parties had yet to consoli- Having the upper hand in the date themselves. The tide began numbers game did not satisfy the to turn by the end of 1956, how- Alliance; it irked them that the ever, when the Alliance suffered choice urban councils were out of unexpected defeats in local elec- their grasp. First, the Penang City tions in Penang and Melaka. The Council in 1958; then, the Melaka Penang debacle, in which the Al- Municipal Council in 1961; fol- liance failed to win a single of the lowed by the Seremban, Kluang eight seats contested, was attrib- and Bentong Municipal Councils uted primarily to the harsh action in 1963 came under the control of taken to crush the Chung Ling DS Ramanathan: First Mayor of the SF. The PPP had also taken a High School students’ protest PenangPenangPenang firm grip on Ipoh by 1961. Under against the conversion of their the pretext of the volatile political school into a national-type school. The Alliance achieved a similar climate engendered by the Con- apparent triumph in the Kuala frontation with Indonesia, the Al- The downward slide continued Lumpur local elections of 1958, liance Government suspended and by the December 1957 local winning three out of four wards. local elections on 1 March 1965. polls, the Socialist Front (SF) – a However, the total opposition The Speaker refused to allow a coalition of the Labour Party of votes in the four wards were motion by the SF Members of Par- Malaya (LPM) and the Party greater than the Alliance votes. liament calling for a debate on the Rakyat Malaya (PRM) – had Once again, dissipation of votes issue. gained enough seats to take over among the opposition parties had the Penang City Council. In this handed the victory to the ruling But this supposedly precarious series of local elections, the Alli- coalition. Overall, the Alliance political situation had not pre- ance garnered 18 seats, less than took 43 of the 57 contested seats vented the government from hold- half of the 37 contested. A year as well as 19 unopposed ones in ing state and parliamentary elec- later, the trend was reversed, with the 1958 series of local elections. tions in 1964. The Alliance the Alliance doing better than they realised that the Opposition was themselves expected, clinching On the face of it, this ostensible better able to win control of local victory in four of the five contested Alliance dominance continued councils than state or parliamen- seats in Penang. But how credible through to the 1960s – with them tary constituencies and was cer- were these wins? The names of so winning 430 seats to the tainly not keen to allow them free many previously registered voters Opposition’s 148 in the 1961 lo- play on these platforms. were missing from the electoral cal elections and 449 seats to the rolls in George Town, Butterworth Opposition’s 184 in 1963. Exam- War of attrition and Bukit Mertajam that the EC ining the popular vote garnered, contemplated postponing the though, tells an entirely different The foul means adopted by the elections for these councils. To be story. In 1961, the Alliance ob- Alliance to stem the challenge of fair, though, the raising of assess- tained 218,428 of the votes cast the Opposition was not limited to ment rates by the SF-controlled compared to 227,104 for the Op- electoral sleight of hand. Deten- Penang City Council and the position; in 1963, it was 251,970 tion without trial put many expe- splitting of opposition votes by votes for the Alliance versus rienced cadres of the SF (then the the People’s Progressive Party 263,000 votes for the Opposition.