DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang wants to know why the Election Commission's redelineation exercise violates principles laid out by former chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusuf.
He was referring to Abdul Aziz's assurance in 2013 that constituencies would be capped at 100,000 voters maximum.
"Can the EC explain why under its proposed redelineation, there are thirteen parliamentary constituencies with more than 100,000 voters – six in Selangor, two in Johor and one each in Malacca, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu – violating the redelineation principle by the immediate former EC chairperson himself," Lim asked in a statement today.
The seats in question are Damansara (currently known as Petaling Jaya Utara), Bangi, Klang, Petaling Jaya (currently known as Petaling Jaya Selatan), Subang (currently known as Kelana Jaya), Gelang Patah, Kota Raja, Pasir Gudang, Kota Melaka, Kuala Terengganu, Sungai Petani, Tumpat, and Kapar.
In Dec 2013, Aziz was quoted by Utusan as saying that the EC will seek to split up constituencies, ensuring that they only contain a maximum of 100,000 voters.
"We do it based on the provision in the constitution, if the number of voters exceed 100,000 people in a parliamentary constituency, we have to study and reduce,” Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying.
He cited the thirteenth schedule of the Federal Constitution, where the number of voters in a constituency should not be too high, hampering elected representatives from carrying out their duties.
Critics have said that the redelineation exercise was clearly gerrymandering to give BN an edge in the next general election.
"The onus is on the EC to prove that it is not gerrymandering the current constituency redelineation exercise as in the past to keep Umno in power," said Lim.- Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.