“Councillorship not dependent on party election.”

PETALING JAYA (June 22): Selangor Local Government, Public Transportation and New Village Development Committee chairman Ng Sze Han has stressed that appointments in are not dependent on their securing positions in party elections.

His announcement, reported in StarMetro today, effectively ends speculations that the current tenure of councillors ending on June 30 will be extended until December, in consideration of the various party elections to be held between August and November.

“Councillorship is not a reward so it should not be linked to the party elections. The chosen candidates will not be dropped after the party elections as the councillors’ tenure runs for two years,” Ng was quoted saying.

The respective Pakatan Harapan parties have to submit their candidates’ names for the 12 local councils in Selangor by this week, he said.

The names are expected to be finalised and endorsed in the next executive council meeting to be held by this month-end.

Thus, the new batch of councillors will report for duty in July, though the swearing-in date can be decided by the respective local councils.

The parties, namely PKR, DAP, Parti Amanah Negara and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia are to vet their own candidates before nomination, but they may still be subject to rejection if deemed unsuitable by the state government.

Asset declaration has not been made a requirement, but bankrupts are not eligible to be made councillors.

Encouraging greater involvement from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and women, Ng said there is no set quota for them but hopes to get a total of 30% women representation.

Meanwhile. Selangor Amanah chief Izham Hashim said the party had submitted the names of all 49 shortlisted candidates yesterday.

“We have 12 NGO names and are retaining several names, including Nor Mohd Zulkarnain Abdul Yazid in Sepang Municipal Council, Pushpa Nagiah Vengadesan in Kuala Selangor District Council, Rajakumar Batumalai in Hulu Selangor District Council and Siti Maimun Jurini in Sabak Bernam District Council.

“All of our candidates are carefully selected based on their academic background, work experience, party position and time commitment.

“It is a requirement that the councillor must reside in the municipality where they are serving,” emphasised Izham, a former councillor with Shah Alam City Council (MBSA).

Several MBSA councillors confirmed they had submitted their nomination papers to their parties.

PKR party whip Tan Ah Kow said he and several others are still awaiting replies to their submissions sent in last week.

DAP party whip Terence Tan said they had sent over 10 names, including his own, for the DAP quota. At least half of the nominees are fresh faces, with three from the NGO.

“I hope those chosen will be sworn in the first week of July so that they can carry out their duties effectively,” said Terence.

Similarly, Petaling Jaya PKR party whip Ahmad Akhir Pawan Chik said 10 names had been submitted for party approval, including one for the NGO quota, who is current councillor Derek Fernandez. The rest of the line-up are mostly incumbents except for one or two.

“We have gotten all the necessary documentation for our candidates and are now waiting for party approval. We do not know the outcome yet,” said Ahmad Akhir, who hopes to retain his councillorship.

On the other hand, the Petaling Jaya City (MBPJ) councillors are ready to call it a day.

Councillor Sean Oon from DAP, who currently oversees SS1, SS3 and SS9A in Petaling Jaya, said: “I am taking a break after more than five years to allow new faces with fresh ideas to participate in the development of Petaling Jaya”.

Four other councillors, Mohd Ghazali Daud, Ariffin Mahaiyuddin, Lim Yi Wei and Jamaliah Jamaluddin resigned at end-April to contest in the recent national polls.