27 June, 2012
by Tung Wan Qing
Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and other VIPs at the book launch
People used to “worship” authority. In those days, there was only one
post office in town and people had to walk miles to get connected with
the outside world. Concentration of power was the main political
strategy at that time.
The 21
st century, however, is all about efficiency,
integration and collaboration. Decentralization is a process of
distributing the decision-making powers to the lower levels of the
organization. In the business context, it is like a niche approach
focusing on different cities and communities with different needs.
One of the most prominent tactics in practising decentralization of
power is through local elections, where local representatives are
elected by the local citizens instead of being appointed by the federal
government. A bottom-up system that includes public participation and
evaluation would therefore enhance trust and accountability in the
state-local relationships, hence strengthening the democratization
process.
In fact, decentralization is not a new concept in Malaysian politics. According to Tricia Yeoh in her new book
“States of Reform: Governing Selangor and Penang”,
Malaysia had a healthy practise of local government elections when it
was a British colony in the 1850s, only to suspend it in 1965 due to
alleged political tension with Indonesia.
Since then, the federal government has consciously rejected the
necessity to revive local elections even though official requests have
been made by the Selangor and Penang state government.
The reason behind this is obvious. As much as decentralization will
undoubtedly weaken the power of the central authority, it brings
advantages that will benefit the rakyat and the nation as a whole
entity.
Firstly, as the people are exposed to different forms of governance
in different states, they could evaluate from the outcomes and place
higher expectations to their local governments.
Public pressure and the bottom-up evaluation system would ensure a
healthy competitive environment between the states and local
governments. When each state works hard to improve their own territory,
it will speed up the whole democratization process and lead to a better
standard of living for the whole country.
Secondly, it is very reasonable and practical to have state and local
governments tackle local issues like traffic congestion or crime
instead of practising a single universal policy imposed by the federal
government regardless of different internal factors in different states.
By empowering the state and local councils to solve local problems,
the federal government could focus on bigger issues, and hence reduce
the chances of wasting human resources and doing double work. The state
and local governments which have more proximity with the grassroots
could also invite local intellectuals and NGO representatives to
participate in policy-making. It would be a win-win outcome.
While resulting in higher productivity, accountability, and
efficiency in tackling local issues by the local government,
decentralization tends to speed up urban development with the federal
government investing most of its resources in the capital.
Penang would never have been revived as a cosmopolitan city if there
wasn’t a totally new state government to implement a whole new set of
ideas and plans despite facing huge obstacles when dealing with the
federal government.
We would never know which city could stand out next, if there is no
room for the local authority to exercise their powers altogether with
the community. The locals know the city best, they know which matter
troubles them the most and what can be done to effectively solve it, so
let them do it. Simple as that.
In so far as it might look like an ideal concept, there are some
“terms and conditions” for this concept to run. The challenges and
limitations of decentralization were discussed by panelists at a forum
cum book launch at Annexe Gallery on 8
th June.
MP for Bukit Bendera, Liew Chin Tong emphasised that decentralisation
can only operate succesfully when accompanied by democratisation. State
and local governments have to be free from any harm, fear, corruption
and interference in the process of policy implementation.
In addition, the mass media has to be fair and square in reporting
the news, while civil society and intellectuals have to be included in
the decision-making process. Only when all parties function well and
independently can decentralization succeed.
There is a risk of facing denial of service from the “upper level” or
civil servants from different parties working under the same
department. Non-cooperation will result in delay or rejection of a good
plan.
The author with MP for Bukit Bendera, Liew Chin Tong at the book launch
The federal government refused to allow Petaling Jaya City Council
(MPPJ) to set up an Auxiliary Force in Petaling Jaya to tackle the high
crime rate. This goes to show that even the best laid plans would be
stuck when there is a disconnect and conflict in federal-state-local
relations. Eventually, the
rakyat will always be the ones who suffer.
Nonetheless, having decentralization of power is not merely an ideal
concept to be discussed in Malaysia. Our country is now marching towards
a much more mature level. There are more free and independent
alternative media which serve as watchdogs. We have a 50-50 chance and
say in the parliament.
Penang and Selangor are two states that have improved so much since
the last election by having the autonomy to experience different forms
of governance and practices. Most importantly, today the
rakyat have become more mature to dare to dream big and make things happen.
Locals have the advantage as compared to some of the civil servants
working in federal government departments who do not even know the
sentiment on the gound. It is the now the right time to start promoting
decentralization, by urging the federal government to return the power
to the states and local government, to ensure a more competitive, fair
and transparent political culture in Malaysia.
Penang has taken the first step by passing the bill to revive local
election last week, the road to decentralization is just around the
corner if we are looking at the same direction. -The Rocket
Title: States of Reform – Governing Selangor and Penang
Author: Tricia Yeoh
Price: RM28
Free PDF excerpt here
http://www.therocket.com.my/en/in-a-state-of-reform/
