The redelineation exercise which the Election Commission will soon undertake will not be done with the aim to safeguard Malay political power, EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Abdul Yusuf said.
Instead, he said, the exercise will follow the principles set out in the Federal Constitution.
"Protecting Malay power is not a principle which the EC uses to guide the redelineation process," he said in a text message toMalaysiakini.
Abdul Aziz (right) stressed that parts of the Federal Constitution relevant to the EC in its redelineation exercise are schedule 13 and articles 2, 3, 3A, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, items 116 and 117, as well as sections 1 and 11.
These sections of the Federal Constitution among others state that electoral borders must factor in the local environment and voter sizes.
"The EC takes into consideration the number of voters, geographical size of the constituency, facilities provided by the local government and voter convenience, be it urban, semi-urban or rural areas.
"As far as possible, we will try to reflect the (ethnic) composition of the Malaysian population," he said.
He was responding to a question on whether the upcoming redelineation exercise will be undertaken following the same principles as the previous exercises.
Instead, he said, the exercise will follow the principles set out in the Federal Constitution.
"Protecting Malay power is not a principle which the EC uses to guide the redelineation process," he said in a text message toMalaysiakini.
Abdul Aziz (right) stressed that parts of the Federal Constitution relevant to the EC in its redelineation exercise are schedule 13 and articles 2, 3, 3A, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, items 116 and 117, as well as sections 1 and 11.These sections of the Federal Constitution among others state that electoral borders must factor in the local environment and voter sizes.
"The EC takes into consideration the number of voters, geographical size of the constituency, facilities provided by the local government and voter convenience, be it urban, semi-urban or rural areas.
"As far as possible, we will try to reflect the (ethnic) composition of the Malaysian population," he said.
He was responding to a question on whether the upcoming redelineation exercise will be undertaken following the same principles as the previous exercises.
Manipulation of electoral boundaries
According to a news report on Monday, former EC chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said that he had overseen three of such exercises where electoral borders were drawn to maintain Malay political power.
However, he was quoted by The Malaysian Insider as saying that it was done in a "proper" manner and not "illegally".
His statement, made at a Malay rights group Perkasa event on Sunday in which Abdul Rashid (left) is a new member, was seen by electoral reform group Bersih as an admission of gerrymandering.
The group's outgoing co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan had called on the EC to explain if it is also following the same principle as set out by the previous commission.
When contacted, Abdul Rashid said that he will respond to Bersih's claims soon.
EC officers are currently collating data to prepare for a redelineation exercise which had been postponed due to the 13th general election. The last exercise was undertaken in 2002.
However, he was quoted by The Malaysian Insider as saying that it was done in a "proper" manner and not "illegally".
His statement, made at a Malay rights group Perkasa event on Sunday in which Abdul Rashid (left) is a new member, was seen by electoral reform group Bersih as an admission of gerrymandering.The group's outgoing co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan had called on the EC to explain if it is also following the same principle as set out by the previous commission.
When contacted, Abdul Rashid said that he will respond to Bersih's claims soon.
EC officers are currently collating data to prepare for a redelineation exercise which had been postponed due to the 13th general election. The last exercise was undertaken in 2002.
Redelineation is required by law to be done every eight years or so to reflect the changes in population.
Gerrymandering, where electoral boundaries are manipulated to favour one particular political party or ethnic group, has become a major issue in the wake of the general election in May where the opposition bagged 53 percent of the popular votes but failed to win enough seats to take power.
Gerrymandering, where electoral boundaries are manipulated to favour one particular political party or ethnic group, has become a major issue in the wake of the general election in May where the opposition bagged 53 percent of the popular votes but failed to win enough seats to take power.
There has been previous cases where changes to constituencies were blatantly made by the EC, allegedly to favour the ruling BN coalition.
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