KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — Putrajaya has taken a tentative step toward reviving the long-dormant debate on local government elections in Kuala Lumpur, with a two-month study now underway for the city, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh told StarMetro yesterday.

Yeoh said the research, commissioned by the Federal Territories Department, will be made public once completed so “the people of Kuala Lumpur” can review the findings before any “next steps” are discussed. 

The study comes amid renewed calls for more democratic oversight of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), which has been run by appointed officials since local elections were suspended in the 1960s.

As a stopgap, Yeoh said all Kuala Lumpur MPs have been empowered to directly monitor DBKL’s work through five newly formed parliamentary monitoring committees. 

“The committees, each chaired by an MP, allow the lawmakers to monitor DBKL’s budget implementation,” she said. 

“There is no limit to the number of committees they can sit in and the frequency of meetings they wish to conduct.”

She added that MPs have also been granted access to DBKL’s One-Stop Centre (OSC) portal to widen transparency over planning approvals. 

“Concerns can then be raised during the OSC meetings so that the mayor can make more comprehensive decisions after listening to the MPs who understand their respective constituencies better,” she told the daily in an interview in Putrajaya.

The five committees — overseeing budget areas ranging from traffic to sustainability, public housing, flood mitigation and cleanliness — are chaired by Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, Batu MP P. Prabakaran, Bandar Tun Razak MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok respectively.

Yeoh stressed that the oversight role was not meant to slow down DBKL’s operations. 

“The MPs’ job is to monitor, not execute. DBKL’s efficiency is still very important. Slowing it down would affect an entire chain of contractors and sub-contractors, along with their employees,” she said.

Responding to a Private Members’ Bill by several Kuala Lumpur MPs that seeks to introduce appointed councillors to DBKL, Yeoh cautioned that such a move could complicate governance rather than strengthen local representation. 

“Kuala Lumpur already has an Advisory Board under DBKL and 11 MPs. Appointing councillors on top of them does not address the people’s call for a strong elected voice in the city,” she said.

The Bill, led by Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, proposes amending the Federal Capital Act 1960 to create a formal council for DBKL. 

Under the plan, each MP would nominate two councillors, who would then be formally appointed by the federal territories minister, while the mayor and existing Advisory Board structure would remain unchanged.

Yeoh said she had reviewed the proposal and explained her concerns to MPs who supported it. 

“When you submit an amendment to an existing Bill with 41 provisions, it is a very substantial amendment that merits presenting or tabling a new Bill,” she said. 

“I was not a signatory to the Private Members’ Bill and I prefer, in the interim, to put the elected MPs who have been chosen by the people to do more in DBKL’s work scope.”