EC: Delineation of electoral boundaries unlikely

INTERVIEW Just two months remain before the Election Commission (EC) must decide if it will re-draw the electoral boundaries.

Looking at the political circumstances, however, this is unlikely, said its chairperson Abdul Aziz Yusof.

Amid rumours of snap polls, critics and lawmakers have voiced their concerns on the possibility of underhanded tactics by the governing coalition BN to secure its position to continue its rule.

Abdul Aziz told Malaysiakini that the delineation of parliamentary and state constituencies is one out of the EC’s three major responsibilities.

“It is as stipulated under Article 113 (2) of the federal constitution… the EC shall conduct such a review within an interval of not less than eight years after the completion of the last review.

“The last one was completed on March 21, 2003. The next delineation exercise can only be conducted after March 21 this year.

 “The EC can’t conduct a review before that, we can only propose anything after March 21… the date of the commencement of the exercise does not necessarily have to begin the next day. It can be after that but we have to look into our capacity and manpower."

Over the years, the EC has often encountered accusations of 'gerrymandering' whenever delineation is undertaken,to assure BN victory.

The rumours are circulating again, now that BN has actively begun operations to woo back voters in several states that it lost to Pakatan Rakyat in 2008.

The ‘two-thirds’ problem

The strenuous task, however, requires something more - an amendment to the constitution that requires a two-thirds parliamentary majority, or at least 148 votes out of 222 in the Dewan Rakyat.

According to Article 159 (3), a Bill to amend the federal constitution cannot be passed by Parliament unless it has been supported on the second and third reading by votes of not less than two-thirds of the total number of members of parliament.

“All I’m afraid of now is that for all proposals from the ruling party, the other side must object… Any suggestions also must object… this is tiring and the delineation, it’s a huge exercise.

“It sound very simple but it’s a big exercise… I have to visit every state and attend dialogues… the reviewed boundaries have to then be displayed and time has to be given for objection… (but after all that) when it goes to Parliament it’s shot down,” he said with a sigh.

BN currently controls 137 seats and is believed to have the support of six Independents, including Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali and five MPs who resigned from PKR last year.

Pakatan has 76 MPs. Two other opposition parties - Sabah Progressive Party and Parti Sosialis Malaysia - control two and one seats respectively.

“Once (it is) decided (in Parliament) and we begin, the exercise must be completed and computed not more than two years from the date of commencement,” he said.

The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) had severely criticised the last delineation exercise in 2003 as being badly conducted, and at the launch of Bersih 2.0 its chief, Ambiga Sreenivasan (left), had said that they had provided proof of several irregularities to the EC.

At a forum on electoral reform, Ambiga had said “… there were astoundingly unusual features, (with) some (constituencies) crossing (boundaries of) local authorities and (creating) funny shapes”.

However, Abdul Aziz rebutted that such circumstance “cannot be avoided” for some constituencies, although “some may say it is crazy”.

“We will evaluate and as far as possible the number of voters, and categorise each parliamentary or state constituency more or less the same. Ideally, one parliamentary seat for one local council,” he said.

In certain states, such as Sabah, its 48 state seats were increased to 60 and five new parliamentary areas were created to make a total of 25 when the  electoral boundaries were redrawn before the 2004 general election.

‘Putrajaya is a federal territory’

According to Abdul Aziz, however, the EC will not embark on delineating electoral boundaries if there is no necessity.

“For instance, in 2003, no additional seats were added in Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis.

“The EC will take into consideration other factors like the difficulty of reaching voters in the district and other disadvantages facing rural constituencies."

He also countered claims that parliamentary constituencies like Putrajaya have been created for political purposes.

According to him, although delineation exercises are intended to ensure equal weight of votes, constituencies such as Putrajaya have to be separated as required under the constitution.

“Putrajaya was established as a federal territory under the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2001 and as clearly stated under paragraph 3A of the 13th Schedule of the federal constitution, Putrajaya is a separate entity and regarded as a state by itself.

Abdul Aziz also said that the administrative district had a population of 67,964 as of June last year, with 8,333 registered voters.

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