Increasing Selangor constituencies exposes ‘shaky’ govt - opposition

 

Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari’s proposal to increase the number of state constituencies in Selangor exposes a shaky government desperate to hold on to power, claimed state opposition leader Rizam Ismail.

Rizam (above) said the move is politically motivated and his assertions are backed by Pakatan Harapan’s string of defeats in recent state elections.

“From what I see, the move is made because the state government sees they have started to become shaky and feels Harapan’s defeat in several states recently shows the people have rejected them and are starting to support BN again.

“Therefore, Selangor wants to increase the number of seats to divide up the urban centres where they have won big to increase the number of their seats.

“From a political angle, this is certainly the state government’s tactic to ensure Selangor remains under Harapan control,” he told Malaysiakini.

The Sungai Air Tawar assemblyperson was commenting on Amirudin’s announcement on Monday that the state government plans to propose a motion to increase the number of state seats at the upcoming state assembly sitting.

According to Bernama, the menteri besar said adding more seats would help balance the number of voters in urban and rural areas so services provided by elected representatives could be conducted fairly.

Some constituencies in the state have over 75,000 voters, with some reaching 100,000, he said.

Despite the state government’s plans, Rizam said he is confident the people have become wiser in choosing the party that can provide better stability for the future.

“And BN has proven that the party has an administrative style where its policies are stronger and inspire greater confidence among investors,” he said.

Each constituency is different

However, the Selangor Umno youth chief said the motion should not be rushed.

“Before the motion to increase seats is tabled, the impact on race and voting patterns need to be considered (to see) whether it is done fairly or not.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari

“This is because each constituency is unique and different in terms of demography, size, and geography, and could not be equated or compared to other constituencies,” he said.

Moreover, Rizam said the state government should also consider its financial abilities and the returns of its costly investments to the people.

This followed the announcement of the 2022 budget by the state government last November.

“The state government announced an operating budget of 52 percent. When there is an increase in seats, operating expenditures would certainly increase.

“Therefore, I urge the state government to table the proposed costs involved if this seat increase takes place, and its justification for reducing development expenditure since there is no certainty the government would be able to increase its revenue while still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Unequal voter distribution

Meanwhile, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Mazlan Ali said there are several reasons the increase in the number of constituencies is warranted.

“Firstly, Selangor is a state where the distribution of voters is unequal, particularly at urban centres, where a single constituency could have over 100,000 voters. The situation is even more serious after the implementation of Undi18, which resulted in a large increase (in voters).

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Mazlan Ali

“For example, in the parliamentary constituency of Bangi after Undi18, there are more than 300,000 voters in a single parliamentary constituency.

“If there are 300,000 in one parliamentary constituency, imagine how many are there in each state constituency. If each parliamentary constituency comprises two state constituencies, that means there are 150,000 voters in each state constituency,” he said.

Therefore, Mazlan said the Election Commission (EC) needs to ensure the weightage between urban and rural voters is reasonable.

“Sometimes in rural (state) constituencies like Sabak Bernam, there are only about 20,000 to 30,000 per state constituency; but in urban areas, this can exceed 100,000,” he said.

He is also certain that the motion will be easily approved.

“The state government still has a firm and strong majority to approve this motion, and it can be done easily because its term lasts until May 2023. I think it can be done after bringing it to the EC and approving it in the state assembly before the 15th general election takes place,” he said.

Selangor’s population density

Also welcoming the idea of more state seats in Selangor was International Islamic University Malaysia law professor Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood.

According to him, this is a timely proposal considering the population density in Selangor.

International Islamic University Malaysia law professor Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood

“The Selangor menteri besar’s proposal is quite appropriate since Selangor is quite dense. In addition, Section 2 of the 13th Schedule (of the Federal Constitution) stipulates there should be no difference in the number of people between two constituencies except in states that are big and sparsely populated like Sabah and Sarawak.

“It is dense in Selangor; it is dense in each area and district.

“There are three state constituencies in Puchong alone and its parliamentary constituency has over 100,000 voters, so I think that’s why the menteri besar felt it is better to have more state constituencies since each constituency is densely populated and has many (people),” he said.

Nik Ahmad also differed with Rizam’s view that the move to create additional constituencies is politically motivated, and even if it were, the EC would not take political interests into consideration.

Instead, he said the EC would be looking at the redelineation in terms of how long it has been since it was last carried out, and whether there is clear justification under Section 2 of the 13th Schedule to carry out the redelineation.

The constitutional provision stipulates when and how a redelineation exercise should be carried out.

“That (political) motive would not be considered by the EC because it is not mentioned in the Constitution.

“We understand that the political motive for increasing seats is perhaps to give a better chance of holding onto power, but the EC will be looking at it in terms of whether it is in line with constitutional provisions.

“The EC will see if it is justified or not under the Constitution,” he said.

Elaborating, Nik Ahmad said the growing population in places like Kuala Selangor and the influx of young voters following the implementation of Undi18 would be the main factors for the EC to consider when conducting a redelineation exercise in Selangor.

Nevertheless, he reminded that the redelineation exercise can only be carried out once every eight years.

The last redelineation exercise was completed in 2018, just ahead of the 14th general election that year. - Mkini