IPOH, April 4 — With the current term of local town councillors expiring in July, Perak PKR is reaching out to its counterpart in Pakatan Harapan (PH), particularly DAP, to reduce their number of representatives in local councils.

Perak PKR information chief Raja Azam Shah Raja Omar Ikram said in the spirit of PH, DAP should not make a grab for all the posts available but leave some for others.

He noted that of the 24 positions in the Taiping Municipal Council, 14 representatives were from DAP.

“While PKR did not contest in Taiping but we hope DAP will not be so firm on the number of councillors,” Raja Azam, who is also Taiping PKR division chairman, told Malay Mail.

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Raja Azam said it was not a healthy trend for one party to snag the lion’s share of positions in a local council.

“There is still a Malay population in Taiping but the racial composition of councillors does not reflect the community,” he added.

He said at the time when Umno and PAS are playing racial sentiments, the racial composition of councillors could be used against PH.

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“We are asking that DAP reduce their number of representatives. We will appoint those with calibre to represent certain groups like those with physical disabilities,” he said.

On March 27, a pro-PKR non-governmental organisation called Pro-98 Reformis accused Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Parti Amanah Negara of seeking key positions within the Perak state administrations for themselves.

Pro-98 Reformis chairman Ahmad Shahrani Abdul Khalid, who is a PKR member claimed his party had graciously allowed its symbol to be used by the other parties in the 14th general election last year, only to be disregarded after PH won Putrajaya.

* Editor’s note: An earlier version misstated the number of positions in the Taiping Municipal Council and has since been corrected.