Lim Guan Eng
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng says any decision on holding local government elections must be agreed to by all parties within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
He said although local government elections is something that the DAP had fought for, the party cannot override the four-party coalition especially when it involves government policies.
“It (local council elections) is a priority for us but PH is a coalition of four parties, we must get all four parties to agree.
“We feel that there is a need for a better democracy as people should be given the right to vote, but right now we will implement other promises in our manifesto first, when that is done, we can bring up other stuff, let’s do it step by step,” he told reporters when met at the Parliament’s lobby here today.
He was asked to comment on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement today that the government does not plan to hold local elections due to concerns of possible communal strife between rural and urban areas.
In May this year, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the government intends to hold local government elections in three years time.
According to Zuraida, such elections can only be done after the nation’s finances and economy stabilises. – Bernama