By Amar Shah Mohsen
SHAH ALAM, Feb 28 — The state government is committed to fulfilling Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj’s suggestion for 50 per cent of local councillors to be drawn from professionals, which will be done in stages.
State executive councillor for local government Dato’ Ng Suee Lim said the appointments cannot be made hastily and arbitrarily so as to ensure suitable candidates are picked for the role.
“I would like to thank the Sultan for caring in this matter. We will use this as a guideline for implementation, and it will be done in stages based on suitability.
“I will leave it to the wisdom of the Menteri Besar (Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari), do not worry. We cannot make decisions hastily, as the people of Selangor are watching how we administer the state.
“We will discuss with all the stakeholders; that is our way. So, do not worry, we will do it,” he said in the State Legislative Assembly today.
Ng was responding to Perikatan Nasional’s Hulu Kelang state assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who wanted to know if the state will implement Sultan Sharafuddin’s suggestion and when this will be accomplished.
Previously, during the declaration ceremony of Klang as a royal city on February 5, the Ruler had proposed the Klang Royal City Council must consist of at least 50 per cent professionals, instead of only politicians.
Yesterday, when opening the First Meeting of the Second Session of the 15th State Legislative Assembly, His Royal Highness said half of all local councillors in the state should also be professionals.
To a separate question from Azmin, Ng said there is no provision on the distribution of council member and village chief positions in the state according to component parties.
Existing guidelines only stipulate that 75 per cent of local councillors shall be candidates of political parties, while candidates from non-governmental organisations fill the rest.
As for the heads of Malay traditional villages and Chinese new villages, he said the quota distribution is based on negotiations between component parties.
Providing an update, the councillor said at present, over 90 per cent of the local council posts have been filled, with the remaining 23 to be appointed soon.
“For traditional village heads, the appointments are expected to be finalised in March and will take effect in April. In the meantime, the services of the existing village chiefs have been extended until March 31,” Ng said.
As such, he said there is no issue of villages and residents being neglected.
Previously, it was reported that Umno had declined the 20 local councillors’ position offered by Pakatan Harapan and instead requested it be handed all 373 Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK) chairman posts in the state.
State party chairman Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin was quoted as saying that this would allow Umno to focus on rural development.
On February 13, Amirudin said the appointment of the JPKK heads is expected to be completed next month and that his party needed to discuss further with other component parties of the state government to finalise the distribution.
