A history of local elections in Penang – Part I: Democracy Comes Early (Section A) By Koay Su Lyn and Steven Sim Fifty years ago, in March 1965, local elections were suspended throughout the newly founded Federation of Malaysia. Those were turbulent times in many ways, no doubt, and the centralising of power was a major objective of the federal government. The political disagreements and conflicts among various parties were serious and diverse. This was no surprise, given how independence from the British was gained only eight years earlier, and how the Federation of Malaysia had just been formed out of four very disparate parts. How disparate these parts were was soon revealed half a year later in the separation of Singapore from the Federation after only two years. This occurred following racial riots, and there was real fear that much more serious ones would take place if the tension between KL and Singapore was allowed to continue. Although the Communist Emergency was over, the danger from the Communist Party of Malaysia was far from over. Furthermore, Indonesia and the Philippines were opposed to the Malaysia project, and President Sukarno had declared a status of confrontation with the new federation. Claims were repeatedly made that corruption at the municipal level was rampant and that local-level politicians were more concerned about their own wellbeing than about those of the nation. For Penang, the banning of local elections ended a tradition of local democracy practiced since 1857, if not earlier. Indeed, MPPP and the City Council of George Town can trace their origin to the Municipal Commission Act of 1857. Although there was no universal suffrage then, the polls held that year marked the first ever democratic election in Malaya, guaranteed by law. The big question is whether or not the ban on local elections made in the 1960s should be revisited and discussed by the general public and in the federal parliament now, given how very different the national and regional situation is today from what it was back then. Where Penang is concerned, there are many ways in which its complex history can be written. One of the more comprehensive ones is certainly the one reflected in the development of local elections since the early 19th century, in fact since the first show of political protest on the island in 1800. In response to the increased dynamism evident in Malaysian politics today, and in order to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of local elections in Penang and throughout the country, Penang Monthly offers, this month and the next, a two-part history of local elections in Penang. The first political protest In 1795, nine years after Francis Light landed on Tanjong Panagar and renamed it Prince of Wales Island, and a year after his death, Philip Manington who replaced him as Superintendent of the new settlement appointed one John McIntyre as Clerk of Market and Scavenger. Among others, McIntyre’s role was to valuate “houses and shops in the bazaar belonging to natives, according to the extent of the ground, for the support of the Police and for cleaning, making proper drains, and keeping the town in order and free from nuisance”. The elite residents of the infant George Town were furious that so much power to decide on taxation was vested in a single individual. They protested and petitioned Manington, demanding instead that “the most equitable mode to adopt would be that a Committee of Gentlemen be appointed to fix a valuation on every particular house and that so much per cent on that valuation be levied”. That petition marked the first ever record of political protest in Penang. In effect, it was a demand for local representation in municipal governance. Many refused to pay their taxes in what seemed to be a form of “no taxation without representation” protest. As a result, the condition of George Town degenerated so badly that there were proposals to move the administrative centre to the south of the island (where Bayan Baru is today). This proposal, later abandoned, was also due to defence considerations on top of municipal concerns. It is interesting how 219 years later, the people of Penang, represented by the current Penang state government, once again protested and demanded for representation in the local government through a reintroduction of local government elections. Although Penang was recently denied the restoration of local government elections via a judicial decision, it is fascinating to note how local democracy has been a recurrent issue throughout the state’s history and how the loss of elective local councils in the 1960s in fact marked the sad loss of Penang’s historical democratic inheritance. (Cont. to Section B)
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 04:03:56 +0000
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