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THE state government and the Election Commission (EC) have been urged to use Sarawak as the first state to hold public balloting for local council elections to elect mayors, district council chairmen and other senior councillors.
Sarawak can be the first state to have local council elections on top of the state and parliamentary polls, said two political parties.
Sarawak DAP, an opposition party in this state, and Sarawak United Peoples Party (Supp) which is a component party of the GPS state government, shared the view that Sarawak should try out local council elections since the coming state elections is only two years away in 2026.
Sarawak DAP youth chairman Dr Kelvin Yii and Supp central leader Senator Robert Lau both felt Sarawak can set the way for elections in city, municipal and rural district councils.
The two spoke openly about this in agreement with a suggestion by civil society group Rise of Sarawak Efforts (ROSE).
ROSE coordinator Geoffrey Tang and the two politicians were involved in a public forum on latest election issues organised by ROSE in Kuching.
“Sarawak and Sabah have existing state laws that allow the both states the freedom to carry out public voting for local council posts.
“The EC can be in charge of the balloting and counting, similar to the process of public polling for state and parliamentary seats.
“Sarawak can lead the way to hold this local council elections since the next state election is due by 2026,” said Dr Yii, who is Bandar Kuching MP.
Senator Lau of Sibu said it was a good idea for local council elections to be tried out in cities and towns in Sarawak first before going to every rural district.
“Sarawak is too big and there will be too many logistics woes if all the public elections are to be held all at once statewide.
“Try out in the cities (Kuching and Miri) and big towns (Bintulu, Sibu, Serian etc) first,” he said.
Lau suggested a motion on local council elections be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat for a parliament-level debate.
ROSE is currently on a statewide roadshow to create public awareness on issues like electoral boundaries, automatic voting rights for those aged 18 and above and other current topics of interest in Sarawak. – July 15, 2024.
