What is important is to restore the independence of the Election Commission that has been destroyed by the ruling BN coalition, argued a number of analysts.

On Thursday, PKR parliamentarian Rafizi Ramli called on non-Malay BN parties to support his Private Member’s Bill to amend the Federal Constitution to strip away redelineation powers from the Election Commission (EC).

This is to pressure Umno, the dominant partner in BN, to move against the EC’s proposals on electoral constituency redelineation.

While this move has been lauded by some, a number of political analysts however say that taking redelineation powers away from the EC should not be the focus of electoral reforms.

A senior fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (Ikmas) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Faisal S Hazis, stressed that there was a need to restore the independence of the EC.

“I understand why Rafizi is arguing this – the EC has been exploited by the BN government to remain in power – but taking power from the EC doesn’t solve the problem,” Faisal told Malaysiakini.

Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng is also of the opinion that the issue is not about whether the EC should or should not redelineate boundaries.

As the EC, overseeing the redelineation process should be among its tasks.

“The problem is that it is biased,” said Khoo.

Khoo stressed the importance for Parliament to draw a framework for the redelineation process.

“Set a benchmark for redelineation work and work within that. It’s not about taking away power of redelineation from the EC as redelineation will be needed,” Khoo said.

‘Sarawak BN parties can play a key role’

Meanwhile, Faisal said Rafizi should not only extend his invitation to non-Malay BN parties.

“It should be a bi-partisan initiative. Rafizi should call upon politicians from both sides to support his bill.

“Ultimately, there is a possibility that the opposition might win the election. We don't want the opposition to abuse this to its advantage,” he said.

The political scientist also believes that Sarawak BN component parties can play a key role in this matter.

“The second biggest party in BN now is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), and it can be a kingmaker.

“It’s time for Sarawak parties to play such a role and not just take care of Sarawak interests,” Faisal said.

Merdeka Center programme director Ibrahim Suffian acknowledged that partisan politics would get in the way of the PKR secretary-general achieving his goal.

“I think they (non-Malay BN parties) would value their membership in BN more than in cooperating with Rafizi, even in matters like this,” said the pollster.

Echoing this, University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute director James Chin argued that non-Malay parties in BN would not want to break ranks with the ruling coalition.

“They cannot survive without Umno and BN, so they will just toe the line. The non-Malay parties are actually afraid of losing power if Umno loses.

“With Umno in power, they will always get cabinet seats, no matter if they win or lose. Thus, MCA always gets three to four cabinet positions no matter how well or badly it does in the general election,” Chin added.

‘BN parties will conform’

Professor Zaharom Nain of the University of Nottingham, Malaysia, is also sceptical that Rafizi’s manoeuvre would work, pointing out that the history of BN component parties has always been one of conformity.

“Now, given how insignificant they are in terms of numbers and representation, it's quite likely they'll be pressured not to go Rafizi's way.

“I hope, of course, that I'm wrong and that there are principled members among the non-Umno BN parties.

“But they are as rare as snowfall in Kuala Lumpur,” Zaharom added.                     

Rafizi said on Thursday that he would write to non-Malay BN MPs and their party leaders to invite them to support the cause for their collective benefit, pointing out how they have nothing to lose.

The PKR vice-president said his bill seeks to take away redelineation powers from the EC and place it in a newly-formed redelineation committee headed by a sitting Federal Court judge.

The Dewan Rakyat will sit for the Budget 2017 session from Oct 17, two days after the redelineation objection period ends. However, government businesses are prioritised in Dewan Rakyat sittings, lowering chances of a Private Member's Bill to be tabled.

Malaysiakini's independent analysis of the redelineation process found that the boundary changes largely favour BN.

The boundary changes either effectively slash a non-BN party's winning majority or turn the its constituency into a marginal seat, it found.