Election Commission promises utmost transparency in redelineation exercise
Many people are unaware of how the review is conducted and merely believe some political parties which accuse us of not doing our job in accordance with the law.
(The Star) – The Election Commission (EC) will begin a review of the country’s electoral boundaries by the end of this year, and has assured the public of “utmost transparency” in the exercise.
EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the commission would display the draft of its redelineation to the public for registered voters, state governments and local councils to present their views and objections before submitting the final report to the Dewan Rakyat for approval. (see graphic)
“This exercise will be conducted according to the utmost level of transparency before going to Parliament to be debated, so there is no question of us trying to conceal anything from the people,” Wan Ahmad said when contacted.
He said that any proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries would require the approval of a simple majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat. The creation of any new constituencies would require two-thirds support.
Asked whether new constituencies would be created, he said: “Logically, there should be more seats because there have been so many new voters since the 12th general election.”
According to Article 113(2)(ii) of the Federal Constitution, the redelineation of the constituencies must be made within a period of not less than eight years and not more than 10 years from the completion of the previous review.
Wan Ahmad said the Federal Constitution provided a maximum of two years for the commission to complete the review.
The last redelineation exercise was completed in March 2003, and while the next review should have started in March 2011, the EC decided to postpone it because it was preparing for the 13th general election.
Responding to allegations that the EC would attempt to gerrymander the electoral boundaries to favour Barisan Nasional, Wan Ahmad said: “Many people are unaware of how the review is conducted and merely believe some political parties which accuse us of not doing our job in accordance with the law.”
On why small urban constituencies have more voters than large rural seats, Wan Ahmad said it was to ensure that voters in urban, semi-urban and rural constituencies all had reasonable access to services by their elected representatives and local councils.
Citing an example, Wan Ahmad said the parliamentary constituency of Puchong had 107,010 voters but residents enjoy good access to services and the elected representative can travel throughout the constituency within a few hours by car.
The parliamentary constituency of Silam in Sabah, on the other hand, has only 51,662 voters but is remote and is as large as Negri Sembilan and Malacca combined, he added.
“To ensure equal voter weightage, we will have to widen the boundary of Silam even further and this would be unfair to the voters as it would make it even harder for them to get service of their elected representatives and local council who will have even more ground to cover,” Wan Ahmad said.
On why Putrajaya, which only has 15,791 voters, was considered a single parliamentary constituency when its neighbouring constituencies had more voters, Wan Ahmad said: “This is because the constituency of Putrajaya was formed not by a redelineation exercise but by an Act of Parliament following the establishment of the administrative capital.
“It is therefore not possible to merge Putrajaya with any of its neighbouring parliamentary constituencies.”
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Pakatan MPs would not support the boundary redelineation exercise although two-thirds majority is not required for the exercise (unless it involves creation of new constituencies).
He alleged that the EC had lost its credibility and was complicit in electoral frauds, and as such, Pakatan did not recognise its legitimacy.
