PARLIAMENT The constituency delineation exercise will proceed despite alleged doubts over the Election Commission’s (EC) integrity, as such doubts cannot be substantiated, the government said.
Replying to Anwar Ibrahim (PKR-Permatang Pauh) during Question Time, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim (left) said that no allegation has held water in election petitions.
“I don’t agree that the integrity of the EC’s leadership is in dispute. If we want to dispute things, we have to be specific...
“We have found that the EC is still able to proceed with organising elections and redelineation as the eight-year period between exercises in the peninsula and Sabah lapsed in 2011, while it lapsed in Sarawak in 2013,” he said.
Replying to Anwar Ibrahim (PKR-Permatang Pauh) during Question Time, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim (left) said that no allegation has held water in election petitions.“I don’t agree that the integrity of the EC’s leadership is in dispute. If we want to dispute things, we have to be specific...
“We have found that the EC is still able to proceed with organising elections and redelineation as the eight-year period between exercises in the peninsula and Sabah lapsed in 2011, while it lapsed in Sarawak in 2013,” he said.
He added that the appointment of EC commissioners is governed by law and should be respected.
Moreover, he said, the bulk of the recommendations of the parliamentary select committee on the electoral process have been implemented by the EC, including the use of indelible ink.
Shahidan that the federal constitution also does not state that political parties need to be consulted for the delineation exercies.
“However, there is room to give suggestions during the process,” he said.
Meanwhile, to a supplementary question by Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan), he said that the Dewan Rakyat has “no choice” but to agree to add more constituencies.
He said that this is because the 222 parliamentary seats was based on a 2001 exercise when there were only 9.9 million voters.
“In 2013, there are 13.2 million voters. The House representatives have no choice but to add more seats, or be deemed cruel and unfair to the people,” he said.
Moreover, he said, the bulk of the recommendations of the parliamentary select committee on the electoral process have been implemented by the EC, including the use of indelible ink.
Shahidan that the federal constitution also does not state that political parties need to be consulted for the delineation exercies.
“However, there is room to give suggestions during the process,” he said.
Meanwhile, to a supplementary question by Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan), he said that the Dewan Rakyat has “no choice” but to agree to add more constituencies.
He said that this is because the 222 parliamentary seats was based on a 2001 exercise when there were only 9.9 million voters.
“In 2013, there are 13.2 million voters. The House representatives have no choice but to add more seats, or be deemed cruel and unfair to the people,” he said.
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