Bersih moots amending constitution to trigger redelineation exercise

Bersih’s Thomas Fann says if Parliament amends Article 46 of the Federal Constitution to add more seats to the Dewan Rakyat it would trigger a redelineation exercise.

PETALING JAYA: Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 has proposed a constitutional amendment which will ultimately allow for a redelineation exercise to be carried out before the next general election.

Speaking at a press conference on Pakatan Harapan’s one year in power, Bersih chairman Thomas Fann said under Article 113 of the Federal Constitution, the next redelineation exercise could only be carried out eight years after the previous exercise.

The current electoral boundaries for peninsula Malaysia were approved by Parliament two months before the 14th general election (GE14), meaning the next redelineation exercise can only be done in 2026 and GE15 must be called by 2023.

But Fann said if Parliament were to amend Article 46 of the Federal Constitution to add more seats to the Dewan Rakyat, it would trigger a redelineation exercise.

This will require a two-thirds majority but Fann believes bi-partisan support is possible if Putrajaya can negotiate for the opposition’s support.

Through the amendment, more seats can be given to Selangor and Terengganu, which, Fann said, were the two most underrepresented states in the Dewan Rakyat.

“Terengganu especially needs more seats.”

And with the additional seats triggering a redelineation exercise, the Election Commission can fix the malapportionment between constituencies in the states.

“In Selangor, Sabak Bernam has 40,000 voters but in Bangi, there are 180,000 voters. This has to be fixed,” he said in giving an example.

He said the EC’s hands were tied so it was up to the Cabinet to push for the constitutional amendment.

Previously, Bersih criticised the redelineation exercise by the Barisan Nasional-led administration, saying the malapportionment violated the “one person, one vote” principle. - FMT