JOHOR BARU: Most of the more than 300 appointed councillors in the 16 local councils throughout Johor have been dropped, says state housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor.
He said 381 councillors would be appointed for a new term from tomorrow after their names had been vetted by the authorities, including the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“The current councillors including those from Umno, PAS and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia will end their term on July 31 (today),” he told The Star.
Mohd Jafni defended the abrupt decision by the state government in shortening the councillors’ term of service, which was slated to end only on Dec 31, as necessary.
“We made the decision after getting feedback from Barisan Nasional component parties in changing the councillors.
“This is not something that came out of the blue as we have been carrying out the process of appointing new councillors since early this month,” he said, adding that the state government had started issuing termination letters to the current councillors from Thursday.
Mohd Jafni said some local councils had been informed about replacing their councillors, with fewer than 40% of the outgoing batch being retained and the rest made up of new faces.
“More than 50% of the new councillors have a diploma or higher education qualifications while 32 of them are young professionals,” he added.
Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi is expected to make an official announcement on the new councillors in the second week of August.
This latest move contradicts what Mohd Jafni told The Star in April when he said that councillors from the state opposition parties (Bersatu and PAS) would be treated with respect and given the chance to serve the people.
He had said that forcing these councillors to resign was not the “Johor way” as they too had played their part in helping the people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Most of them have a year or less to go on their contracts, so I do not think we should be in a hurry to get rid of them,” he said then.
Last week, Kulai Municipal Council (MPKu) president Natazha Hariss said during its full council meeting that the government had agreed to end the term of all local councillors following a state executive council meeting on July 19.
“A total of 338 councillors in all 16 local councils will end their term starting from July 31 while 381 councillors will be appointed soon to serve from Aug 1, 2022 to Dec 31, 2023.
“The new batch of councillors will be from Barisan Nasional component parties of Umno, MCA and MIC,” he said in his speech where he thanked 22 MPKu councillors for their contributions and hard work during their term.
Johor Bersatu information chief Mohd Solihan Badri, when contacted, said he was unaware of the state government’s decision, but added that it was its right as the ruling coalition to do so.
His party previously had representatives at all local councils.
Mohd Solihan, however, questioned the abrupt manner in which the termination was carried out.
“The state government should have allowed the councillors’ term to end naturally by the end of this year as many of Bersatu’s councillors worked hard in serving the people despite having been treated unfairly since the state election (in March),” he said.