GEORGE TOWN, Dec 12 ― The Penang state government hopes that the DAP’s aim and efforts to have local council elections held in the state will bear fruit in future.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state government had taken all the steps necessary including legislative in efforts to carry out local council elections since some years ago.

"Looking back, we not only passed a motion at the State Legislative Assembly but also drew up an enactment on local council elections.

"Our last resort was to take the case to the Federal Court, which is the apex court, to make a judicial pronouncement on the motion tabled by the state government to enable the holding of local council elections.

"However, the court's decision was not in favour of the state government’s appeal application. For the state government, we have come to the end of our legal efforts. But we hope our struggle will bear results one day,” he said at a press conference, here, today.

Chow was asked to comment on the statement by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Monday that the government had no plans to hold local council elections due to concerns over possible racial conflicts and rural-urban divide.

DAP secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, who is also Finance Minister, said DAP felt the need for greater democracy as people should have the right to vote in local councillors.

However, Chow who is also national DAP vice-chairman, said any political struggle should be based on the existing legal provisions and the state government left it to Housing and Local Government Minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin to pursue the matter.

"Actually, it (local council elections) is not in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, so we see that after the prime minister’s statement on the issue, the minister (Zuraida) is still voicing the wish to continue with efforts to hold local council elections.

"Hence, we leave it to the minister to continue the struggle as this is outside the jurisdiction of the state government which has done whatever it could,” he said. ― Bernama