Did Chow Kon Yeow screw up the local council appointments?

I was reading a post (Powerful corporate interests penetrate Penang local councils) over at Anilnetto's blog on the appointment of the councillors for the local councils here and it reminded me of this whole ugly issue.

Initially, I was very reluctant to blog about it coz it seemed like a can of inedible worms that I do not feel like dealing with...however, the way the exco in charge, Chow Kon Yeow, reportedly reacted to all the negativity and criticisms made me change my mind.

He had reportedly said that all this criticisms about the choice of councillors are undermining the state government's efforts. It seemed that all these criticisms (mainly in the Chinese dailies) meant that (according to Kon Yeow) they (the Chinese dailies) are putting undue pressure on the new state government and are not providing the 'support' the state government needs at this early stage.

Furthermore, he compared the current system to the BN system and wondered why nobody complained about the BN's system which does not open up for NGOs at all.

Err...YB Chow Kon Yeow...are you high on drugs or were you just daft or plain stupid?

Weren't you the one to promise 10 councillors post to the NGOs but now there are only 7? And by NGOs, shouldn't you be thinking about a variety of NGOs and not just the business ones? Also, why the secrecy in the selection process?

So, is it so wrong for the public to demand for explanations when you did not fulfill your promises? Is it wrong for the public to demand for 'transparency and accountability', the very things the Pakatan Rakyat has always been harping on?

The people voted for Pakatan Rakyat for a reason and that is to see good and major changes. Not some half-hearted attempt!

Sure, you may say it is only for this term and that you had to rush through the selection process. These are just lame excuses that nobody could swallow.

Just think, your first chance to shine and you blew it, you think the people are just going to let this go?

Just admit that you screwed up this time and you won't do it again and perhaps, the people will be a tad more forgiving. They may even let this go. But no, you had to go on and on about how there are now 7 from NGOs as compared to none previously.

You see, Penangites aren't all that demanding and unforgiving. We aren't all that stupid too. We know how BN run things, you don't have to point that out repeatedly. What we want now is to know how you, the Pakatan Rakyat government, plan to run things.

A promise is a promise. Regardless of whether it is short of 3 or even 1 from the originally promised number of 10, it is still a promise. And didn't DAP always say that it will keep its promises made to the rakyat?

It has only been a month plus since you took over the helm and Pakatan Rakyat is still very green. Why don't you just come clean about how you selected the councillors and let the public be the judge of whether you did this in the interest of the people and council or in the interest of the party?

For isn't transparency and accountability the two main words you, the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, have been preaching? Where is it now when criticisms and demands for explanations appear?

So, YB Chow Kon Yeow, I hope you have credible answers instead of the lame excuses you gave. It is the only way for you to redeem the respect you lost in this whole debacle.