SUN Newspaper - 14 July 2010 - Limit Term of Councillors
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‘LIMIT TERM OF
LOCAL COUNCILLORS’
SHAH ALAM: An assemblyman has suggested that the state government study the possibility of limiting the term of local councillors to inject accountability at all levels of councillorship. The move was to encourage and provide better chances to the grassroots to serve as councillors, Lau Weng San (DAP-Kampung Tunku) said when debating the second supplementary supply bill at the state assembly yesterday.
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CONGRATULATIONS! I must commend and applaud YB Lau for his call to limit the term of councillors. This is in line with good corporate governance practice worldwide. The issue is how long should be the term and whether they can be reappointed after a term break of say, 2 years. The alternative is to transfer the councillors after x number of years to another council nearby especially if we do not want to lose good and talented councillors.
However, this fine politically correct statement is seriously negated by the reason given ie "The move was to encourage and provide better chances to the grassroots to serve as councillors" This smacks of cronyism which was practised by the BN controlled government. Previously, the appointments were made as a reward for party members and served as a "food chain" to distribute the largesse.
At the 308 General Election, voters rallied round the PR's call of "Change". People cried for compentency, accountability and transparency (CAT ). So have we betrayed the people by appointing people based on party loyalty rather than CAT - just as BN? President Obama's battle cry was "Change that we can believe" NOW can we believe PR/DAP?
The appointment of councillors is governed under Section 10(2) of the Local Government Act 1976 (LGA) which states, inter alia, “Who have achieved distinction in any profession, commerce or industry.
If we analyse the background and CV of the councillors nominated by the PR parties the majority of them DO NOT meet the criteria of "have achieved distinction ..."
I hope YB Lau Weng San could retract the statement because it is not good for his personal image that he is prepared to sacrifice public interest over "shiok sendiri" for party members. Also being a lawmaker himself, he should show good example by following the letter of the law as aforesaid.
Once again I like to thank YB Lau for highlighting the issue but would advise that the more important issue is the "quality" of councillors appointed. Voters want quality councillors and not just party members on a "shiok sendiri" ego trip.
‘LIMIT TERM OF
LOCAL COUNCILLORS’
SHAH ALAM: An assemblyman has suggested that the state government study the possibility of limiting the term of local councillors to inject accountability at all levels of councillorship. The move was to encourage and provide better chances to the grassroots to serve as councillors, Lau Weng San (DAP-Kampung Tunku) said when debating the second supplementary supply bill at the state assembly yesterday.
************************************************************************************
CONGRATULATIONS! I must commend and applaud YB Lau for his call to limit the term of councillors. This is in line with good corporate governance practice worldwide. The issue is how long should be the term and whether they can be reappointed after a term break of say, 2 years. The alternative is to transfer the councillors after x number of years to another council nearby especially if we do not want to lose good and talented councillors.
However, this fine politically correct statement is seriously negated by the reason given ie "The move was to encourage and provide better chances to the grassroots to serve as councillors" This smacks of cronyism which was practised by the BN controlled government. Previously, the appointments were made as a reward for party members and served as a "food chain" to distribute the largesse.
At the 308 General Election, voters rallied round the PR's call of "Change". People cried for compentency, accountability and transparency (CAT ). So have we betrayed the people by appointing people based on party loyalty rather than CAT - just as BN? President Obama's battle cry was "Change that we can believe" NOW can we believe PR/DAP?
The appointment of councillors is governed under Section 10(2) of the Local Government Act 1976 (LGA) which states, inter alia, “Who have achieved distinction in any profession, commerce or industry.
If we analyse the background and CV of the councillors nominated by the PR parties the majority of them DO NOT meet the criteria of "have achieved distinction ..."
I hope YB Lau Weng San could retract the statement because it is not good for his personal image that he is prepared to sacrifice public interest over "shiok sendiri" for party members. Also being a lawmaker himself, he should show good example by following the letter of the law as aforesaid.
Once again I like to thank YB Lau for highlighting the issue but would advise that the more important issue is the "quality" of councillors appointed. Voters want quality councillors and not just party members on a "shiok sendiri" ego trip.
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