Sarawak rep objects to new proposed constituency by EC

 Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How says the proposed changes could separate communities with long-standing social, cultural and historical ties.

Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said under the proposed redelineation, a polling district in his constituency will see the number of voters surge from 967 to 6,361.

PETALING JAYA:

A Sarawak assemblyman has lodged an objection with the Election Commission (EC) over the proposed electoral boundary changes affecting his constituency and the creation of a new state seat, Tabuan Jaya.

Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said he submitted the objection yesterday, saying the proposed changes could separate communities with long-standing social, cultural and historical ties.

He also said that under the proposed redelineation, a polling district in his constituency will see the number of voters surge from 967 to 6,361.

See said there was a need to assess how these proposed changes will affect the communities and voters.

“Electoral boundaries are not simply lines on a map,” the three-term assemblyman said in a Facebook post.

“They affect how communities are represented and how local interests are heard.”

See then urged the EC to take into account community ties, local history, administrative realities and effective representation before carving up a new constituency.

The EC’s proposed redelineation exercise involves the creation of 17 new state constituencies in Sarawak, increasing the total number of state seats from 82 to 99.

The public display of EC’s recommendations for the Seventh Sarawak Parliamentary and State Constituency Redelineation Exercise ended yesterday at 5pm

EC will consider representations received before proceeding with the subsequent stages of the exercise. - FMT