The Election Commission (EC) should take into consideration the challenges and difficulties faced by elected representatives in servicing rural constituencies when it undertakes its proposed redelineation exercise, said several party leaders from the Land of the Hornbills.

They pointed out Sarawak’s uniqueness in terms of its geographical landscape dotted with mountain ranges, valleys and an extensive network of rivers, as well as its demographics. What more, in the interior regions villages and long houses are scattered sporadically, quite unlike the situation in the peninsula, thus posing challenges in transportation and communications for the

elected representatives.

At 124,449.51 square kilometres, Sarawak is almost the size of peninsular Malaysia and naturally, it has the highest number of electoral constituencies - 31 parliamentary and 71 state legislative assembly seats.

As at the 13th general election, Sarawak had a total of 1,083,972 registered voters.

Ealier this month, EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof announced that the EC was expected to gazette the notice for the redelineation exercise for parliamentary and state seats at the end of this year.

He said the redelineation exercise was supposed to have been held in 2011 but was deferred as the EC had to prepare for the 13th general election, which took place on May 5, 2013.  

Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) secretary-general Stephen Rundi said it was up to the EC to determine how the review of the electoral boundaries should be carried out, in accordance with the provisions set out in the federal constitution.

Electoral redelineation to help resolve problems    

    

He stressed that although rural areas had fewer voters compared with their urban counterparts, the EC should not be swayed by this factor.

“In Sarawak, the kampungs and longhouses are scattered here and there, and may even be situated far apart. Besides that, the lack of infrastructure also requires special focus.

“We are hoping that the EC can help resolve these issues when redrawing the electoral boundaries for the state constituencies in Sarawak,” he told Bernama recently.

Stephen, who is also Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary, said the redelineation exercise was timely, more so now when there were new challenges to meet and people have become more demanding.

He hoped that both the BN and Pakatan Rakyat would view the exercise positively and refrain from debating over it to gain political mileage.

“PBB supports the redelineation exercise as it is aimed at improving the standard of service rendered by elected representatives... the people of Sarawak really need to be served better.

“Sarawak BN has yet to have any meeting to discuss matters related to the exercise. But we are confident that the EC  will take into consideration that Sarawak is different from the peninsula,” he said.

The Dayak community

Parti Rakyat Sarawak’s (PRS) Wanita chief Doris Sophia Brodie said any redrawing of electoral boundaries in Sarawak should also take note of the population of the various ethnic communities in the state.

“PRS would like to see at least four new Dayak-majority state seats created in Sarawak in the redelineation exercise as this will bring the number of Dayak seats in line with the community’s population ratio in the state.

“Dayak-majority constituencies currently make up 29 of Sarawak’s 71 state seats. Dayaks consist of approximately 44 percent of the population in Sarawak, hence if the number of state seats is increased it will fit the population ratio,” she explained.

- Bernama