(Penang,
Wednesday): Based on Johore’s six new parliamentary seats, a
fair and equitable redelineation of the electoral constituencies based on
distribution of population will give Selangor ten new seats instead of the
proposed five and one new seat each for Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.
This could be seen from the
following table of registered voters for each state in peninsular
Malaysia, with the number of parliamentary seats and proposed increase
in bracket during the 1993 and 2002 redelineation exercises:
| 2002 | 1993 | Increase | Increase in Percentage | |
| Perlis | 109,750 (3) | 97,978 (3) | 11,772 | 12 % |
| Kedah | 793,517 (15) | 675,790 (15) | 117,727 | 17.4 % |
| Kelantan | 655,602 (14) | 564,041 (14) | 91,561 | 16.2 % |
| Terengganu | 411,453 (8) | 337,918 (8) | 73,535 | 21.76 % |
| Penang | 659,155 (13) | 563,039 (11) | 96,116 | 14.58 % |
| Perak | 1,138,010 (24) | 1,045,535 (23) | 92,475 | 8.12 % |
| Pahang | 554,534 (14) | 456,834 (11) | 97,700 | 21.39 % |
| Selangor | 1,368,693 (22) | 949,317 (17) | 419,376 | 44.18 % |
| FT(KL) | 664,233(11) | 531,681 (10) | 132,552 | 24.90 % |
| FT(Putrajaya) | 85 (1) | - | - | - |
| N.S. | 417,712 (8) | 347,975 (7) | 69,737 | 20.04 % |
| Malacca | 331,327 (6) | 269,198 (5) | 62,129 | 23 % |
| Johore | 1,223,532(26) | 982,484 (20) | 241,048 | 24.53 % |
| FT(Labuan) | 21,291 | 18,054 |
From the table, one is shocked by the injustice of the redelineation exercise and cannot
avoid making the following observations:
Selangor with the most number of registered voters with
1,368,693 voters (an increase of
44.18% from the previous redelineation in 1993) is allocated 22 parliamentary
seats as compared to Johore which is second with 1,223,532 voters (an increase
of 24.53%) – a breach of the redelineation principle in previous redelineation
exercises that the state in Peninsular Malaysia with the most number of registered voters leads in having the
most number of parliamentary seats.
Based on the proposed six-seat increase for Johore,
Selangor should be allocated an increase of 10 new seats instead of the proposed
five, so that it will have a total of 27 parliamentary seats (one more than the
proposed 26 parliamentary seats for Johore, instead of being four parliamentary
seats less).
A fair and equitable redelineation will give Kelantan,
Terengganu and Kedah one new seat each in view of the 16.2%, 21.76% and 17.4%
increase of voters respectively since the last redelineation exercise, as Negri
Sembilan and Malacca are allocated one new seat each with 20.04% and 23%
increase of voters respectively.
There appears to be no
valid ground for the allocation of
one new seat to Perak which had a
8.12% increase of voters as compared to the previous redelineation.
The three-seat increase for Pahang with 21.39 increase in
voters, much less than the 21.76% increase registered by Terengganu, cries out
for a full explanation by the Election Commission.
The unfairness of the 2002 redelineation is also apparent
from a comparison of the average number of electors per
parliamentary seat for each state with the 1993 redelineation, as
follows:
Purata Bilangan Pemilih Tiap-tiap Negeri
| 1993 | 2002 |
|
| Perlis | 32,000 | 36,583 |
| Kedah | 45,000 |
52,901 |
| Kelantan | 40,200 | 46,828 |
| Terengganu | 42,200 | 51,432 |
| Pulau Pinang | 51,000 |
50,704 |
| Perak | 45,400 |
47,417 |
| Pahang | 41,500 |
39,609 |
| Selangor | 55,800 | 62,213 |
| Federal Territory (Kuala Lumpur) | 53,000 | 62,203 |
| Negri Sembilan | 49,700 |
52,214 |
| Melaka | 53,800 | 55,221 |
| Johor | 49,100 | 47,058 |
This raises two new questions:
What is the policy reason
for increasing the state average of number of electors per parliamentary
constituency for Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu while this is reduced
for Penang, Pahang and Johore in the proposed redelineation as compared to the
1993 exercise?
What in particular, is the redelineation principle involved to justify the reduction of the state average of number of electors per parliamentary constituency for Johore from 49,100, which was much higher than Perlis 32,000, Kedah 45,000, Kelantan 40,200, Terengganu 42,200 and Perak 45,400 in 1993 to 47,058, which is even lower than the proposed new state average for Kedah 52,901, Terengganu 51,432, as well as Perak 47,417 in 2002 – to justify allocating six new seats to Johore to have the most number of 26 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, smacking of gerrymandering
The onus is on the Election Commission to explain what
redelineation principles it had used for its proposals, which prima facie is
most unfair and unreasonable and a departure from established principles of
redelineation used in the past.
The Election Commission had not been transparent enough
when it made public its proposed recommendations for the redelineation of
electoral constituencies, without explaining
the reasons and principles
for its recommendations – especially where it had departed from its previous
established practices.
The Election Commission should answer the queries which had
been posed so that the Malaysian public, whether political parties or the
voters, can make informed and meaningful representation based on the
explanations given by the Election Commission – so that the public
consultation process does not become an empty exercise.
(14/8/2002)