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Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Want to be a municipal councillor?

Civil society groups under the umbrella of Penang Forum 3 are inviting the public to participate in elections on 14 November to determine their nominees to serve as MPPP and MPSP councillors in 2011.
These pilot elections are a small first step in the journey towards the full restoration of local council elections in the future. Although many shortcomings in the process leading up to 14 November will inevitably crop up (given the constraints Penang Forum is operating under), the aim is to get the public used to the idea of having elections at the municipal council level.
Not all NGOs are public interest groups. Groups such as Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the various Chambers of Commerce are more like lobby groups representing the interests of their members.
On the other hand, the civil society groups that are under the Penang Forum (such as Suaram, Aliran, Sembang-Sembang, PHT, and Malaysian Nature Society) advocate issues that are of concern to the wider public i.e. public interest issues.
And so the Penang Forum is inviting the public to participate in the process of determining (through elections) who the civil society nominees for local councillors on the island (MPPP) and mainland (MPSP) will be. If you want to become a municipal councillor or have a say on who becomes one, this is your chance.
Invitation to Penang Forum 3: Elections to determine civil society nominees to serve as MPPP and MPSP Councillors for 2011
Date: Sunday, 14 November
Venue: Penang Chinese Girls School Alumni Hall (directly opposite St Nicholas), along Jalan Bagan Jermal.

Time: 9.00 am – 3.00 pm
Registration: RM10 (vegetarian lunch/tea provided) (RM5 for students)
Penang Forum is committed to helping bring back local elections to Penang to promote democracy, transparency and accountability. Pending that, Penang Forum would like to see a more transparent appointment of civil society’s representatives in MPPP and MPSP and is asking that for 2011, there be five civil society councillors appointed for Penang Island and another five for Seberang Prai.
We are calling Penang Forum 3 to elect nominees for these positions.
You are invited to participate in this process by:
  • either standing as a candidate in the elections that would determine civil society’s representatives to serve as MPPP and MPSP councillors for 2011
  • or voting in the elections on 14 November.
Call for Nominations
To have the election of civil society representatives in the local councils, we need candidates! So we are calling for nominations!
If you are interested, you will need to fill a nomination form and have a proposer and a seconder ready. The form can be downloaded from the penangforum.net website or picked up from the Aliran office.
To submit your nomination (closing date 29 October)
Please send your nomination form to Penang Forum 3,
c/o Aliran, 103 Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, Penang
or fax it to (04)6585197
To participate and vote in the elections (closing date 11 November)
All Penang residents are invited to participate in the Penang Forum 3 event and vote in the elections on 14 November. To register, please email aliran@streamyx.com or phone Aliran at 658 5251 during office hours, Tuesday to Saturday. Registration fee will be collected on the day of the forum.
Please visit Penang Forum website for more information.

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