EC: Redelineation done according to federal constitution principles

(Bernama) – KUALA LUMPUR: Five previous redelineation of electoral constituencies and boundaries carried out by the Election Commission (EC) was done in accordance with Article 113 (2) of the Federal Constitution.

The EC said the redelineation of electoral boundaries had never breached the principles of the Federal Constitution.

Looking at the electoral boundaries, not a single redelineation exercise had breached the state or parliamentary constituencies, said

EC in a book published to clarify issues related to elections.

The EC said it would always try to accommodate the electoral boundaries for state or parliament constituencies within a district except for some exceptional cases.

“There are some cases in which the redelineation of a Parliament seat may involve two districts, just like Kulim/Bandar Baru, Tanjung karang/Kuala Selangor and a few others in Sabah and Sarawak,” said the EC.

Even the redelineation of a seat involving two districts, does not breach the principles of the Federal Constitution.

“The only problem that we can foresee for the elected representative is related to administration and the fact that he may have to attend more meetings.

“However, so far, elected representatives have not faced any major problem since they understand their responsibilities when being elected,” said the EC.

As for the cleaning up of the electoral list, the EC claimed that the process could not be carried out without valid information from the National Registration Department.

The next of kin of a deceased member must provide details of the person’s death to the department so that the department can issue a dead person’s certificate for the EC to update its data.

As for the campaigning period of between seven to nine days, the EC said the period was sufficient for all political parties because a longer campaigning period would incur additional cost.

The EC would, however, continue to carry out studies to upgrade and accommodate such requests in accordance with the law. – Bernama