Written by P Ramasamy
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Housing and local government minister Nga Kor Ming just confirmed that local council elections are not his ministry’s priority.
In other words, he refused to back the proposal of his senior party colleague, Tan Kok Wai, who is the Kuala Lumpur DAP chairman and Cheras MP.
More than a week ago, Tan called for the introduction of local council elections by starting with Kuala Lumpur.
However, he was criticised by Malay nationalists who said that local elections would not benefit the Malays but the non-Malays, particularly, the Chinese.
Since the Chinese dominate the urban areas, having local government elections might complicate the racial situation in the country.
These Malay nationalists refused to consider why the Malay political parties in the Malay heartlands are not keen to have local elections.
Since ethnicity is not an issue, why the fear? Is it fear of democracy, or the invisible Chinese?
I can understand the position of the Malay nationalists in Umno and in Perikatan Nasional (PN), but no DAP or PKR leaders have emerged to support Tan’s idea.
Tan’s own colleagues in DAP have failed to come forward to support his proposal.
What is so wrong about the noble idea of local government elections?
After the hot and acrimonious debate was just about to subside, Nga emerged to say that the government has other priorities than local government elections.
Why Nga had to wait so long to have a say on the issue remains a mystery.
It is obvious that DAP is divided on the question of local government elections. Gone are the days when the party had local government elections as its top priority. Election campaigns invariably raised the issue of local government elections.
Now, with power and positions, the political scenario has changed.
I think Tan raised the issue of local government elections out of frustration. But, unfortunately, he had no takers in the party.
Under attack from the nationalists, Tan could not defend himself. The party abandoned him completely.
It is a shame that Nga did not come to the rescue of his colleague, Tan.
Instead, he completely undermined Tan by saying that local government elections are not the government’s priority.
Maybe Nga should spell out the priorities of the government.
Is it about enjoying the rewards of power and positions?
Is it about DAP, with 40 MPs, performing the role of an appendage to the government?
Essentially, it is not about Tan’s proposal for local government elections or the dismissal of their priority by Nga.
It is more about the political trajectory of DAP that stood for democracy and justice in the country.
By side-stepping the crucial principled political issues, the party is slowly but surely shedding its old pretensions.
Written by P Ramasamy, an ex-DAP leaders and the former deputy chief minister of Penang
Politics Now!
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