TOPIC 5

REPRESENTATION IN LOCAL

GOVERNMENT

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 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lecture, student should be able to:

• The concept of representation

• The elective system
• The appointment system
• The merits and demerits of the appointed and the elected
system
• The system of representation in Malaysia
• The role of the councillors in local government

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 Contents
• THE CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATION
• THE ELECTIVE SYSTEM
• THE APPOINTMENT SYSTEM
• MERITS AND DEMERITS OF THE
APPOINTED AND ELECTED SYSTEM
• THE SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATION
IN MALAYSIA
• THE ROLE OF COUNCILLORS IN
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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 CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATION

• Democracy commonly refers to a political government

carried out by means of elected representatives.

• In most countries, all levels of government, from Federal

to State to local will have elections to choose their
representatives.

• Representation in LG means that councillors are elected

and are supposed to represent their ratepayers at the
local level.

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 CONCEPT (Cont.)

• Main objectives of LG is to achieve grassroot democracy

and enhance the quality of democracy within the LG
system.

• Democracy can be achieved through:

1. Participation in expression of community views

(achieved through electoral process) where ratepayers
can vote.
2. Participation in actual delivery of services - this can
be achieved through a variety of consultative and
lobbying processes which help to determine what
services to provide.
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 ELECTIVE SYSTEM
• Most countries elect their local councillors similar to
how the state and federal representatives elect their
representatives. E.g. United Kingdom.
 In UK- councillors are typically elected as members of
political parties or alternatively as independents.
 In Australia, there are about 6,600 elected councillors with
an average of just under 10 councillors per council.
 In Japan, councillors are elected for four year terms and are
restricted from holding other public office or working as a
local civil servant.

• councillors play a very important policy-making role,

requiring the identification of community needs,
setting objectives to meet those needs, establishing
priorities between competing demands and allocating
resources.
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 Role of elected councillors
• Take an active part in reviewing matters before their
council and debating issues and in councils’ decision making
processes
• Review councils’ objectives and policies
• Review councils’ resource allocation, expenditure and
activities, and the efficiency and effectiveness of its
service delivery.
• Make decisions and act through a majority vote decision
of the council/committee.
• Represent the interests of residents and ratepayers.
• Attend council meetings.
• Vote on every motion and amendment for decisions, unless
the conflict of interest provisions apply.
• Read and consider the agenda and reports before council
meetings to be ready to constructively take part in Council
debate.

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 APPOINTMENT SYSTEM
• In the appointed system applied in Malaysia, there are
strictly no elections to councillors.
• councillors are appointed by their respective State
governments from a variety of backgrounds
• They are mostly party members from the ruling state
party or they can represent various government agencies
or Non governmental organizations (NGO).
• The councillors are appointed under Section 10 (2) of the
Local Government Act 171.
• councillors shall be appointed from amongst persons
ordinarily resident in the local authority area who have
wide experience in local government affairs or who have
achieved distinction in any profession, commerce or
industry or are otherwise capable of representing the
interests of their communities in the local authority area.
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MERITS AND DEMERITS OF
THE REPRESENTATION
SYSTEM

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 APPOINTED SYSTEM/COUNCILLORS

MERITS DEMERITS
1. Ensure smooth implementation of 1. Issue of Representation and
Federal and state government policies. Democracy

2. Reduces the cost of having elections 2. Issue of Merit and Competence

at the local level.

3. Reduce political conflict at the local 3. Issue of Accountability and

level. Transparency

4. Since a majority of them are 4. Elections as a Necessary Condition to

politicians, they will be able to Democratic Governance
communicate with the local people
better.

5. It can solve the problem of apathy of

local people in terms of democracy. 10
DEMERITS OF APPOINTMENT COUNCILLORS (Cont.)

1. Issue of representation and democracy

– Elected representation is the cornerstone of
the democracy. The absence of elected
councillors shows denial of democracy and
accountability at the grass-root level of
government.
– By appointing the local councillors, the State
govt. is effectively saying, “We know what is
the nest for you, and we will make the choices
for you”.
– Malaysians are denied of their right to elect
who and which party will represent them to
deal with their local issues.
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DEMERITS OF APPOINTMENT COUNCILLORS (Cont.)

2. Issues of merit and competence

◦ Without elections, merits and
competencies have been given way to
other considerations of the political
parties’ agenda.
◦ Appointment of councillors ignore the
background and track record of
performance of the appointees.

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DEMERITS OF APPOINTMENT COUNCILLORS (Cont.)

3. Issues of accountability and

transparency
– Appointed councillors are not immediately
accountable to the rakyat for the money
spent.
• 147 local councils in Malaysia with a combined
expenditure of more than RM13billion.
• Not obliged to furnish the Ministry with their
account nor do they have to seek approval
from the Ministry for their budget allocation.
• There is lack of transparency in how council
matters are discussed and decided upon. 13
DEMERITS OF APPOINTMENT COUNCILLORS (Cont.)

4. Election as a necessary condition to democratic

governance which comprises issues of participation,
merit and competence to accountability and
transparency.
– With election, rakyat be able to participate effectively in
electing officers and ensure the policies formulated that
best serve their needs and interests.
– Rakyat should have right not to re-elect those councillors
who fail to perform.
– Councillors should be accountable to bring about
transparency to the whole LG process and lead to greater
efficient use and distribution of resources and reduce in
corruption.

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 ELECTED SYSTEM/COUNCILLORS
MERITS
1. Help to achieve democracy
2. It can reduce the political influence of
Federal and State governments.
3. councillors are accountable directly to the
people.
4. There will be a closer bond between
councillors and the people.
5. It will also encourage more participation
and interest by the local people.
6. The councillors will be more proactive.
7. A councilor’s term of service is determined
at the polls and not by him carrying favors
with the state government.
8. Elections bring out the best in
dissemination of information
9. It is a prerequisite for good governance.
DEMERITS
1. Elected councillors can also be susceptible
to corruption.
2. There are also costs in conducting local
government elections.
3. More importantly, in a multi-racial and
multi-religious society, local elections provide
further opportunities for racists and fanatics
to hijack election campaigns to serve their
sectarian and narrow political ends, often at
the expense of national unity.
4. It is useful to point out that Kuala Lumpur,
despite having appointed advisors since 1961,
stands out as a better place to stay and work
among Southeast Asian cities that have
elected local government.
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 SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATION IN
MALAYSIA
• Appointed system applied in Malaysia, there are strictly no
elections to the councillors.
• councillors are appointed by their respective State govt. from a
variety of backgrounds.
• Chosen from among ordinary members the ruling party at the
state level, non governmental and professional organizations who
have contributed substantially to local affairs and also from
other government departments
• councillors are appointed under Section 10 (2) of the Local
Government Act 171.
• According to the Local Government Act, 171, the term of
appointment is for a maximum of 3 years but most local councils
will appoint councillors every 2 years. They also can be
reappointed for a maximum of 4 items.
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 Cont.
• councillors are volunteers and not paid, only given
allowance. The amount of allowance can vary from one
state to another.
• Following the Indonesian confrontation in the early
60s, local council elections were suspended by the
Emergency (Suspension of Local Government
Elections) Regulations 1965. Later, the Local
Government Act 1976 abolished local government
elections altogether; local councillors were no longer
elected but appointed by the state government.

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 Should local council elections be
reintroduced?
• Recently, the Penang government called for LG elections
to be restored.
• ARGUMENTS:
– Some have commented that LG elections will only lead to
politicking and not raise the level of services, as well as being a
waste of public funds.
– Counter argument is politicking and public spending are part of
the electoral process for federal and state govt. It is necessary
to instill public confidence in the democratic system practised in
our country.
• Some political scientists argue that LG elections lead to
decentralization of power and the opportunity to use
local knowledge to meet local needs.
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 Cont.
• Reviving local elections will provide us
with choices to decide the most
efficient option.
• Elections will also serve, to a certain
degree, to reduce collusion, nepotism
and corruption.
• E.g. Highland Towers and Bukit
Antarabangsa tragedies.

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 THE ROLE OF COUNCILLORS IN LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
• Represent the interests of the community
• Represent their political party at the local level
• Offer opportunities for citizens’ voices to be heard and use
citizens’ input to adopt acts that govern the local community
• Perform executive oversight which means that the councillors
are legislators who control the executive which in the case of
the council is the Mayor or President.
• Vote on budgets, with the goal of using resources effectively
• Vote on local acts and regulations that govern the local
administration
• Prioritize policies at the local level
• Elect those who serve in the cabinet or have other leading
functions within the administration

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 Functions of councillors
 Policy makers – policies decided by them.
 They also communicate policies of council to public.
 They also are representatives of the people in
council.
 They protect the interests of the people so that the
council does not abuse its position.
 They supervise the running and administration of the
council- such as in appointments of staff, budgets,
and approval of any projects
 They oversee the overall development of council area
to ensure development is in line with sustainable
development principles.
 They ensure council works for the good of the whole
community and that no groups are marginalized.
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 Measures to enhance local councillors
effectiveness
• They should increase their technical, human and conceptual
skills.
• They should be more accessible to the public by instituting a
certain fixed time at the council to meet the people.
• They should also ‘turun padang’ or visit their local area more
frequently so that they can see the problems on the ground
• They should be well informed on what the council is doing by
keeping a very close watch on the council
• They should make full use of full council meetings to view their
grievances or give their opinions.
• They should have sufficient knowledge on local government
matters and understand basic principles of local government
administration

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 Measures to enhance local councillors effectiveness (Cont.)

• Adequate training on local government matters

• Assets disclosure.
• Membership of local authorities should as far as
possible reflect the diversity of interests in society.
• Accountability.
• councillors of the local authorities should be local
residents.
• Appointment procedures for selecting councillors.
• Display list of nominees.

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 The case of City Hall, Kuala Lumpur
City Hall, Kuala Lumpur (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, DBKL)
 According to the Federal Capital Act 1960, City Hall has an
Advisory Board which consist of 15 members with one member
each from the Federal Territories Ministry, the Finance
Ministry and the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's
Department, and two members nominated by the Yang di-
Pertuan Agong and the Selangor government.
 The remaining 10 members must be individuals with knowledge
on local government issues, or hold a degree in a certain
profession, commerce or industry, or have the expertise to
represent the needs and interests of their communities.
 The members are normally called commissioners and comprise
15 members, with six currently serving their first term (each
term is two years

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END OF CHAPTER 5

THANK YOU

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