Puad urges Umno to form special panel to oppose KL mayoral election

2026-02-02 - 04:46

Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi claimed that if such gangsters were to back certain candidates, the mayor’s office would no longer be independent. PETALING JAYA: An Umno leader has called for his party to set up a special secretariat to present a counter-response to a proposal on a mayoral election for Kuala Lumpur. Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said his party must oppose the proposal, citing concerns over gangsters in Kuala Lumpur using their money and networks to support certain candidates if such elections were to take place. “Umno needs to immediately establish a special secretariat to present a counter-response, just as it opposed the Urban Renewal Bill,” he said in a Facebook post. He said there was a significant presence of underworld activities, cartels and gangsters in the capital city. “Such an election could be influenced not only by political parties and racial sentiments, but also by cartels and gangsters,” he said. He claimed that if such gangsters were to back certain candidates, the mayor’s office would no longer be independent. “While civil servants can face disciplinary action for misconduct, an elected mayor would serve out their full term regardless,” he said. Federal territories minister Hannah Yeoh yesterday revealed that she had instructed her office to conduct a study on the feasibility of holding a mayoral election for Kuala Lumpur, a move which she said would be more practical than electing multiple city councillors through local council polls. Yeoh said the current administrative set-up was already overcomplicated, with the capital being simultaneously overseen by a mayor, MPs and advisers from Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh also voiced his opposition to the proposed mayoral election. “Just as we rejected and thwarted the plans for the Urban Renewal Bill and previous local council elections, we must likewise reject and thwart their plans for the mayoral election,” he said in a Facebook post. In November, former city advisory board member Lai Chen Heng said that calls for local elections in Kuala Lumpur should take a backseat to strengthening governance and professionalism in the city administration. His remarks come after Maimunah Sharif’s tenure as mayor abruptly ended, ahead of the scheduled date of Aug 16 next year. Fadlun Mak Ujud was appointed as her successor with immediate effect.