SHAH ALAM – In Malaysia’s bureaucratic maze, the “third tier” of government—the local councils—often feels like a ghost machine. They collect trash, fix streetlights, and manage business licenses, yet for most Malaysians, the people sitting in those council chambers remain nameless, faceless and most importantly, unelected.
In a recent episode of the Top News podcast, Muda Secretary-General Ainie Haziqah Shafii laid out a defiant case for the return of local government elections. For Ainie, this isn't just a policy checkbox; it is a personal mission rooted in her experience as a former appointed council member (Ahli Majlis) in Petaling Jaya.
For decades, critics have opposed local elections, citing the “racial bugbear,” arguing that restoring the third vote would trigger urban-rural polarisation and racial tension. Ainie is quick to dismantle this narrative as misinformation.
"Everybody thinks that when you have local elections, you will actually divide races. Which up until today, how does that happen? This is just the third layer of decision making. Everyone can send their party reps to contest... it’s not about race against race or racial fights. It’s more about accountability,” she said, noting that once candidates win elections, they are accountable to the people, not the party that appointed them.
Ainie believes the public has been misled about what local polls truly represent. Rather than a zero-sum game between ethnicities, elections empower residents to choose leaders who understand the hyper-local nuances of their neighbourhoods.
The problem, she argues, lies in Malaysia’s current system of political appointments, where council members and mayors are selected by state governments, often based on party affiliation.
Reflecting on her time in the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), Ainie highlights the disconnect this creates.
"I know how it feels like... as a local council who is not elected and appointed. You need to make yourself known to the people so that you can be accountable to them. But not everyone will go out every weekend and tell people, 'I am your rep, come to me’.
"When you appoint, who am I accountable to except for my political party? But if you are elected, people know they elected me. They can find you, they need help, and I need to be accountable to them,” she said.
The systemic flaw is simple: appointed leaders answer first to their party, not to the ratepayer.
"It’s very funny that Malaysia is among very few countries that have not done local government elections," she remarked.
Ainie also calls for the election of the entire council board, which oversees committees handling land use, infrastructure, and community welfare.
Electing the “third government” as a whole would shift councils from a top-down appointment system to a bottom-up mandate.
She attributes resistance to local polls to a fundamental misunderstanding of council structures.
"Actually, the problem is that the information people have grasped all this while is wrong or misinterpreted,” she said.
By framing local government as a service-oriented body rather than a political battlefield, Ainie hopes to shift the conversation toward efficiency.
Whether it is a mayor in Kota Baru or a council member in Subang Jaya, the principle remains: voting forces representatives to perform or face consequences at the ballot box.
As Malaysia moves toward increased political awareness, the call for the “third vote” is no longer just a radical suggestion, but, according to Ainie, “a necessary step” toward a government that finally answers to the people.