THE idea of appointing Kuala Lumpur Members of Parliament to the advisory board of KL City Hall (DBKL) is improper because it would put the mayor in a bind administratively and risk local governance being politicised, says local government expert Derek Fernandez.
Fernandez (pic above, right) issued a statement on the matter after it was reported that all eight political appointees from Barisan Nasional had quit the advisory board and would be replaced by KL MP.
"From a governance standpoint, it would not be proper to appoint KL Members of Parliament to the advisory board of DBKL," Fernandez said.
"The job of the advisory committee is different from an MP's role. An MP has a different mandate.
"Under the law, the chairman of the advisory board is the mayor, who is entitled to overrule the advisory board on any matter provided the reasons are recorded in the minutes.
"If MPs of the ruling coalition were to sit in the board or committee, the mayor would from, an administrative standpoint, be unable to exercise this power even if he has valid grounds for doing so, and if he attempts to do so, he may be embroiled in an unhealthy political standoff which he cannot win.
"Worse, his position as chief executive of City Hall would be blurred," he said.
According to Fernandez, the situation was akin to putting political nominees on the board, even if the nominees were elected by the rakyat as a federal MPs of the ruling coalition.
In addition, he said state assemblymen in Selangor were not allowed to sit in local councils, and this was done for a good reason.
"The rule that assemblymen not sit in local councils was not applied only in Selangor by two Menteri Besar but was a rule applied to all Pakatan Rakyat states because of the danger of them abusing their power and politicising local governments without actually standing for elections in the local government itself.
"These were the allegations made against BN assemblymen prior to 2008 by the then opposition parties now in government. It was therefore a Pakatan Rakyat policy that ADUNs not sit in local councils.
Fernandez said the people's voice in DBKL and the democratisation of DBKL must be through localelections, starting with the mayor's post and then to have elected councillors rather than appointed advisory board members in DBKL.
This could be done by legislation to bring DBKL within the ambit of the Local Government Act 1976, he revealed.
"It is understandable why MPs like YB Hannah Yeoh and other FT MPs would like to sit in the DBKL Board because they feel they may be more effective in resolving residents' issues.
"However commendable these intentions may be, the correct mechanism to achieve this in my opinion is to form an advisory commitee to the FT minister at the FT ministry level or even an executive commitee of the Federal Territory pending local govt elections so that issues of general policy or grievances in the FT can be addressed.
He noted that under the law, the FT minister can issue policy directives to the mayor that must be complied.
The suggested committee should comprise all FT MPs, and it would be through this forum that the KL MPs can properly excercise oversight over DBKL and the mayor on general policy matters.
"In fact in the state governments, this would be known as the exco or its administrative arm (e.g. Economic Action Council) and the like. Confusion occurs because there is no state govt in the Federal Terrority but the FT minister wields power like a Menteri Besar for the FT.
"This leaves a huge gap for KL MPs who wish to have a say in the management of KL, made worse by the absence of elected councillors (which in the present system are in effect appointed by the political party in power), and hence the spirited desire of KL MPs to want to directly sit in local govt.
Fernandez cautioned that if this matter was not handled properly, it could be perceived as an excuse to delay local govt elections and usurp local govt power, even if this may not be the intent.
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