On 16 July, the Minister of Federal Territories laid out 16 reform strategies, aiming to address widespread corruption in Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) commends this effort to introduce internal accountability mechanisms within city hall, especially in the light of numerous corruption scandals that have plagued them in recent years, including allegations and convictions related to bribery.
The federal government has also acknowledged poor performance by City Hall in last year’s public service corruption indicator under the 2025 local authority star rating system, where the body scored just 0.08% out of a possible 5%.
In addition, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Public Accounts Committee have identified several gaps and weaknesses in the governance of City Hall that create risk of corruption:
- The absence of any monitoring committee to oversee high-value, long-term contracts awarded to private companies
- A lack of oversight in land development decisions
- Violations of the gazetted Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan and Local Plan
Therefore, these reform initiatives by the Ministry of Federal Territories are a welcome and necessary effort to improve the accountability and transparency within City Hall.
Since January 2026, the ministry has implemented:
- Institutional inclusion of Kuala Lumpur MPs into City Hall affairs by establishing five parliamentarian-led committees to oversee major expenditure under City Hall’s budget
- Public disclosure of all developmental applications through the OSC 3.0 portal
City Hall’s reform strategies
Following the above reforms, the ministry formulated a more comprehensive reform strategy based on findings of the International Islamic University Malaysia’s feasibility study on the Federal Capital Act 1960.
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According to a Malaysiakini report on 2 July, the study advised against both mayoral elections and the appointment of councillors for City Hall. The full rationale behind the objection is not known as the full report is not publicly available.
Instead, IIUM’s study appears to focus more on reforming internal rather than external mechanisms, which formed the premise for 16 reform strategies laid out by the ministry.
The reform strategies can be divided into three main thrusts:
Reduction of the mayor’s power:
- Prohibition from chairing the audit committee
- A RM3,000 cap on approved donations
- The abolishment of the Special One Stop Centre (OSC) committee
Shifting from individual-based decision-making to collective-based decision-making:
- Empowerment of the advisory board to set up committees on donations, audits, governance and integrity
- Regular consultation meetings with Kuala Lumpur MPs on developmental plans.
Preventive anti-corruption measures on City Hall officials:
- Job rotations for field officers and those in sensitive positions
- Rolling out body cameras in phases
Room for improvement
While the proposed reforms are a positive step forward, there are several potential shortcomings that C4 Center would caution against.
First, while parliamentarian oversight covers budgetary matters, no clear protocols have been established with regard to the role of Kuala Lumpur MPs in land matters.
Second, the empowerment of the advisory board to have meaningful participation in the decision-making process could be severely undermined due to the Federal Capital Act 1960.
Section 10 of the Federal Capital Act 1960 allows the mayor to disregard the advice given by the advisory board after consultation with the federal territories minister.
While the mayor must provide grounds for his decision to go against the advisory board, these are only reflected in the meeting minutes, which may not necessarily be publicly accessible.
Third, public disclosure and public consultation alone does not amount to meaningful public participation. The criticism of City Hall’s previous attempts at public consultation was that no due consideration was given to the public feedback, which rendered the consultation as a mere compliance exercise. Beyond merely receiving feedback from members of the public, meaningful public participation involves genuinely incorporating the public’s viewpoints in a way that ensures that the public interest is given adequate consideration in any government decision. Any future City Hall reforms must prioritise this.
To ensure the reform plan can be implemented as intended, C4 Center strongly urges the federal territories minister to implement the following recommendations:
- Release IIUM’s study to the public to allow for greater scrutiny.
- Establish clear protocols on the role of Kuala Lumpur MPs in land matters.
- Mandate written replies to public feedback on developmental plans. – C4 Center
The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.
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