Sabah DAP regrets Dr Mahathir's backtracking on reforms
Published on: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: DAP Sabah Publicity Secretary, Phoong Jin Zhe (pic), said it is extremely unacceptable for the Prime Minister to issue the statement that he will not resume local government elections on the grounds of fearing racial disharmony, among other reasons. "If our new government continues to make race and ethnicity or other identity politics a major consideration in implementing policies for the country, then all our reformation efforts thus far would have added up to nil. We would fail to meet the aspiration of the people for the new government."In the end, the entire ruling coalition will be shackled in the execution of their policies until our downfall in the next election," said the Luyang Assemblyman.ADVERTISEMENT Phoong said it is time for the new government to stop making policy considerations with a racial lens to accomplish the national reform mission they have undertaken. Naturally, he said, this must include the reform and revival of local government elections as failure to do so would mean that the local government does not actually carry the mandate and aspiration of the people to carry out effective changes in their respective areas."We must stop deploying race and ethnicity to sabotage the reform process that is slowly gaining traction in this New Malaysia. If the government must always take race and ethnicity as the primary consideration in all of its decision, I believe today we will not have a Chinese as the Finance Minister, an East Malaysia native as the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, much less appointing other minorities in the country to hold important portfolios in the government. Not only is this extremely unjust, it directly encroaches the confidence of local talents returning to our homeland," he said."If we continue to allow racial politics to grow rampant in this country, then I am afraid that the reforms we wish to implement, such as the implementation of the Malaysian Agreement 1963, the reform of our electoral system, and the administrative as well as fiscal decentralisation of the federal to the state government, would all akin to chasing the wind. "I believe that if Pakatan Harapan desire to reform and yet still worries about identity politics, then we will not achieve anything in the short run nor will we achieve either ends in the long haul," said Phoong.ADVERTISEMENT He said local government election is an indispensable priority in all democratic institutions as the life of regular citizens are directly linked to their policies and executive abilities. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Whether the drainage systems are maintained regularly, garbage are collected on time, whether the local parks are furnished from time to time, whether the community enjoys a liveable environment, the efficiency with which licenses are being renewed and issued, and whether the public transportation are provided to the community effectively, these affects every facets of the life of a regular citizen, he said.
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"Many times, because the local government are not elected and, therefore, unable to reflect the mandate of the people to carry out reforms."