Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today insisted that a general election would not be held before the proposed retirement of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in October.

Seasoned politician that he is, Abdullah was evasive about when the nation would go to the polls. A general election must be held by November next year, as the last exercise was held in November 1999.

EC biased?

Abdullah was in Parliament today to present the Election Commission's (EC) proposals for redelineation of parliamentary and state constituencies.

Speaking to reporters later at the Parliament lobby, he said: "We don't know when we are going to have the next elections. The prime minister already said it will not be before October."

Asked if it could take place between October and December, he o­nly said, "Yes. October to December next year is also possible."

On allegations that the EC proposals favour the ruling coalition, Abdullah said the redelineation exercise is based o­n specific criteria and that it is usual for the opposition to criticise the decisions.

"Usually the opposition would find reasons to say that they are dissatisfied. (Some) Barisan Nasional leaders have also said they are not satisfied but this is the freedom given to them to speak in Parliament," he said.

"There is not much more I want to say o­n this. The EC did a good job based o­n specific criteria and they did not hide any argument or fact that they used (to justify their proposals)."

The acting prime minister dismissed claims that the redelineation exercise was being rushed through Parliament, indicating that the government had followed all necessary procedures.

"We have not rushed it. If that was the case we would have made amendments to the Constitution already," he said.

"This will o­nly be done at the next parliamentary sitting (expected in June) but before that, we must first pass the proposals of the EC to add new seats and to redelineate the constituencies. The process is not completed yet."

For the proposals to be adopted, there has to be more than 50 percent support by MPs, who will vote o­n this tomorrow. If the government secures approval, it will present a bill to Parliament to amend the Federal Constitution to show the change in seats.

'Stop fighting'

On conflicts within BN component parties - between rival MCA factions o­n the o­ne hand, and between the Peoples' Progressive Party and the MIC o­n the other - Abdullah said the leaders were unlikely to go so far with their quarrels as to jeopardise the coalition's position.

"They are all responsible leaders. There are certain things (about which) they differ, but I believe they will not go to the extent that they would jeopardise BN's chances of winning the next elections," he said.

"I have always been reminding them that it is important to ensure that our party remains strong. If there are any problems within the party, they have to solve it as soon as possible and avoid intra-party disputes. I hope such disputes will be stopped."

Abdullah also played down a statement today by Tasik Cenderung Umno division that it would support the appointment of Umno vice-president and Defence Minister Najib Abdul Razak as the next deputy premier and Umno deputy president.

Division chief Mohamed Nazri Aziz said members were of the view that Najib was the most qualified to become the deputy premier as he is o­ne of the longest serving ministers and has wide experience.

Responded Abdullah: "That is their view. My view is that it is unnecessary for such statements to be made. For o­ne, the prime minister has said that I will decide later o­n my deputy. For another, the (Umno) party elections will not be held before the general election."

He added that it would be better for the divisions not to put forth their preferred candidates because the matter would be sorted out during the next Umno elections.

Public consultations

Tabling the redelineation proposals in the Dewan Rakyat, Abdullah said the EC's final draft added 25 new parliamentary seats and 63 state seats to the total.

"With this proposal, the total number of parliamentary seats will increase from 194 to 219(while) the total number of state seats will increase from 442 to 505," he noted.

Abdullah explained that, while no additional seats have been proposed for Terengganu, the EC had nevertheless proposed redelinating some electoral boundaries so that voter distribution would be more "balanced" and the people would have "fairer representation".

He said the EC had received 285 appeals in the peninsula Malaysia during its first round of public consultation last August, resulting in 143 local inquiries being held. During the second round, the EC received another 47 appeals and conducted 11 additional inquiries.

In Sabah, 28 local inquiries were held in October 2002 and two more in February, he added.

"One thing which ought to be noted is that it was difficult for the EC to balance the average number of voters for Sabah. This is because there are rural constituencies whose topography and demography are extremely unusual, resulting in a lower number of voters than there should be," Abdullah said.

Elections 'very near'

Meanwhile, at a press conference, PAS vice-president Dr Hassan Ali cast doubts o­n Abdullah's comments o­n the election date, saying that PAS expects the polls to be held any time after July.

"We are gearing up our election machinery. The motion presented by the acting prime minister today (on the redelineation proposals) is testimony that elections are very near," he said.

"The prime minister (Mahathir) has a bad history of expressing (his intentions)We have information that Umno and BN have already placed their orders for posters. This too shows that the elections are very near."

Asked about Barisan Alternatif's views o­n the redelineation proposals, Hassan said "a lot of anomalies and loopholes" remained.

"We have objected (to the proposals) individually and as a party. Most of our objections were not accepted," he said, adding that the government should reconsider the proposals instead of pushing them through Parliament.

The PAS leader said the redelineation exercise was being used as an "opportunity" by the government to recover ground lost during the last general election.

"In 1999, Umno suffered a shocking defeat. Every eight to 10 years, they make full use of the opportunity to change the constituency boundaries," he said.

DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock also criticised the EC proposals which allegedly violate the 'one man, o­ne vote' principle.

"This principle is being eroded. The difference between the highest number of voters in the constituencies is getting wider," he said.

"In the past, the state with the largest voter population had the highest number of seats but not any more. Selangor has the highest number of voters but Johor has the largest number of seats. How can the EC convince people that it is fair?" he asked.