Real reasons against local elections – T.K. Chua

I think this country is in serious trouble not because we are lacking in resources and capability. We just have too many politicians who are nincompoops. These are the illogical and myopic people who have clearly manifested their middle-kingdom mentality. They think they know everything but in reality they know nothing. They are not even aware that what they know is so archaic and out of sync with the environment and circumstances in which we live today.

They said having local elections is bad. It can’t provide “justice” to the people. They said local elections will cause racial disharmony. But they never tell us why and how so.

If they say the proposed local elections are bad, they must first prove to us that the existing local authorities (which have not been elected since the Indonesian confrontation in the 1960s) in the country are already good.

Now, which local authority is good? Which local authority has been able to provide responsive and responsible services to the people?

Look around us: most local authorities are in a deplorable state. Towns and cities are haphazard, dirty and disorderly. Traffics, even in smaller towns, is a nightmare. Pests and abandoned pets are everywhere. Most drains are clogged, emitting a stench that reaches the nearby eateries.  Food handling, hawker centres and coffee shops lack the most basic hygiene. We have coffee shops next to car repair shops and pet shops next to clinics.

If local elections are able to resolve some of the issues highlighted above, what injustice and racial disharmony would they cause? If we are able to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local authorities, how is this going to adversely affect the interests and wellbeing of people living in the rural areas?

Please think of Pareto improvements – if something is done which could improve the life of some but without making others worse off, why can’t we do it? If we look at local elections as a means to enhance transparency and accountability and to improve the services of the local authorities, I am sure they will not adversely affect justice and racial harmony in the country.

I think the contention against local elections has much to do with exercising control and power. Local authorities are looked upon not as another layer government to provide better services to the people but rather as another avenue to impose, regulate, and control the lifestyle of the people.

This is most unfortunate. Archaic politicians fail to see the roles of government in context. They think they are cleverer and have better solutions than the collective will and wisdom of the people. They think some theologies somewhere are better than transparency and accountability.

No, contrary to what they claim, we do not treat democracy or local election as God. We are only seeking it as a means to better governance.  This is at least better than some who treat some doctrines promulgated a long time ago as if they were divine and faultless.

* T.K. Chua reads The Malaysian Insider.