DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang is surprised that the issue of local government elections is being linked to the possibility of racial riots. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 25, 2015.Fifty years after the suspension of local government polls, DAP today said Malaysians should start asking why it should not be restored in the country.DAP parliamentary leader and MP for Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang, in thanking the PAS president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for starting the public debate on the issue, said this is also the time for Malaysians to move beyond the politics of race to a more inclusive one."It is 50 years down the road and Malaysians are entitled to ask why they should continue to be denied local government election, when it is accepted as a basic democratic right of citizens in countries committed to a democratic way of life," he said.Lim added that he did not agree with Hadi that local government election may lead to another May 13-like race riots.This, he explained is because the politics of inclusion would unite Malaysians instead of the current practice of “divide and rule" politics of exclusion."In fact, this is the first time anyone has claimed that the restoration of local government election could result in another May 13 race riots," the Gelang Patah MP said at the DAP kopitiam dialogue in Batu Pahat, Johor today.Lim, who was first elected MP in 1969, said the causes of the May 13 race riots were still a guarded secret and he had in his first speech in Parliament in February 1971 called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into the causes.He said it was a great fallacy for anyone to assert that the restoration of local government election could result in another May 13 race riots.On March 1 1965, the nation's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, suspended local council election, giving as justification the threat of Indonesian confrontation.Lim said Tunku, however, gave the undertaking to Parliament that the election would be restored the very moment peace was declared.On Friday, Hadi said DAP's insistence on holding local council elections could cause a deeper racial divide, as well as tension, and that PAS rejected any move that could bring about a repeat of the May 13 riots.Hadi said DAP's push for local government elections was a mistake as it was only advantageous to urban residents, who were mainly non-Malays.His remarks were a result of a war of words between PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali and DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke over the issue of local government elections.Hadi's statement was supported by Local Government and Urban Development Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Umno mouthpiece Mingguan Malaysia.Lim said with Hadi opening the way, he would not be surprised if this would be used by reactionary Barisan Nasional leaders as an additional reason for opposing the restoration of local government elections.He said many seemed to have forgotten that a very vibrant local government democracy had existed in the country in the 1950s and the first half of the 1960s.There were 373 local authorities that had well over 3,000 elected local councillors before local government elections were suspended.He said a Royal Commission of Inquiry headed by Datuk Athi Nahappan was established into the workings of local government, which recommended the restoration of the polls.However, he said a law was finally passed in 1976 to abolish local government elections but the real reason was that BN leaders had no confidence of victory in the local council elections.Lim said it was also wrong and misguided for anyone to argue that the restoration of local government elections would be dominated by the Chinese and that the DAP would be the main beneficiaries."This is to ignore the process of Malay urbanisation in the 45 years since the 1969 general election," he added.According to the 2010 census data, the Malay population (45.9 %) in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur outnumber the Chinese population (43.2%).In fact, out of the three city halls, nine city councils and 37 municipal councils in Malaysia, only six – Ipoh, Kuching Selatan, Johor Baru Tengah, Pulau Pinang, Sibu and Subang Jaya – have populations where the Chinese outnumber the Malays."In other words, 88% of these large urban areas have a plurality and in most cases, a majority, of Malay residents. Even in a place like Petaling Jaya, the Malay population (46.2%) outnumbers the Chinese population (39.6%)," Lim said.He said 58 years after Merdeka, Malaysians should move beyond the politics of race to an inclusive politics."The 2008 and 2013 general elections are proof of this politics of inclusion which unite Malaysians and this is one important reason why after 50 years, local government elections should be restored to Malaysia," he added. – January 25, 2015.
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