Reps who wish to stay on must inform Perak government by May 22 - The Star

IPOH: May 10, 2008 By CHRISTINA KOH

Perak has given Barisan Nasional-appointed councillors until May 22 to decide whether they wish to serve under the Pakatan Rakyat-led government.

State executive councillor in charge of local government, Nga Kor Ming, said 165 of the 349 councillors had yet to make known their intention.

Of the 165 councillors, 120 councillors are from Umno, 35 from the MIC and 10 from the PPP, he said.

“We don’t know what their status is,” he told a press conference at Wisma DAP here yesterday.

So far, he said, all 95 MCA councillors have tendered their resignations as have 19 Umno councillors and 52 of the 53 Gerakan councillors.

The remaining Gerakan councillor, Jalan Kamunting Gerakan branch chairman Joseph Lau, recently announced that he had quit his party to remain a councillor with the Taiping municipal council.

Nga urged any of the 165 councillors who wished to remain in their posts to submit official letters by May 22 stating their intention and the reasons for wanting to serve another year.

“If the state feels they are suitable, we will accept them as councillors again,” he said, adding that the government planned to finalise its list of councillors by the end of this month.

However, Nga said the state would “take appropriate action” should Barisan Nasional councillors fail to meet the deadline.

“According to the Local Government Act, the appointment of councillors and termination of their services rest with the state authority,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nga invited Perakians from all ages and walks of life to submit applications to be councillors since 30% of the 349 councillor positions had been reserved for “non-political individuals”.

Application forms can be obtained from the customer service counters of the State Secretariat and at local councils.