Stop racialising DBKL councillor appointment idea, FT DAP Youth tells PAS

Stop racialising DBKL councillor appointment idea, FT DAP Youth tells PAS


Published: Oct 26, 2024 3:16 PM


Federal Territory DAP Youth publicity secretary Iskandar Fareez has urged FT PAS Youth to refrain from racialising the proposal for appointing councillors to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

In a statement today, Iskandar (above, left) expressed regret that the issue had been turned into a racial matter and pointed out that the Islamist party youth chapter is depriving the public of their right to local representation.

“FT PAS Youth is not at all concerned about the needs of KL residents but more interested in playing politics. Their statement also raised an important question that must be answered.

“Since they are so adamantly opposed to the concept of local council elections, would they support the appointment of council members in the future?” he asked.

On Oct 18, Harakah Daily reported that FT PAS Youth representative Azmer Syazwan Ahmad Suparmin as criticising the proposal made by FT DAP chairperson Tan Kok Wai, claiming it would foster racial discrimination, create economic imbalance and open the door to corruption.

At the FT DAP Convention held this month, Tan suggested appointing councillors in DBKL as a first step towards broader reform.

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke, who attended the event, described the proposal as “a sound and progressive approach” but noted that he would bring the matter to the Pakatan Harapan leadership council before proceeding with any action.

Elaborating, Iskandar stressed the importance of appointing councillors in Kuala Lumpur - a city with a larger population than states like Perlis, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Terengganu - all of which have councillors and MPs.

“DBKL only has an advisory board and doesn’t have appointed councillors. KL also lacks ‘state-level’ representation, such as state assemblypersons like in other states.

“This complicates service delivery and complaint management for constituencies in KL as it relies solely on 11 MP to serve the city's 1.98 million population,” he remarked.