Selangor plans to create more state assembly seats

 

Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari said several seats had more than 75,000 voters each, with Kinrara having the most at 118,000.

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor state government is proposing to increase the number of state seats at the upcoming sitting, Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari said.

Amirudin said the move was necessary as some seats had more than 75,000 voters.

The proposed changes will affect about 20 existing constituencies. They are: Batang Kali, Gombak Setia, Teratai, Semenyih, Kajang, Balakong, Sungai Ramal, Seri Serdang, Kinrara, Subang Jaya, Seri Setia, Bukit Lanjan, Kota Damansara, Kota Anggerik, Bandar Baru Klang, Pandamaran, Sentosa, Sungai Kandis, Kota Kemuning and Dengkil.

He said the proposal to add seats to the state assembly is to create a balance between the number of voters in urban and rural areas so that services provided by elected representatives could be given fairly.

“There are two or three seats where voters number more than 100,000. The seat with the most number of voters is Kinrara, with 118,000.

“However, it’s not easy to add seats. We need to consider the impact as it involves the salaries, allowances and pensions paid to state assembly members.

“All these require consideration. So, realistically, we need at least six months at the earliest to move on this,” he told reporters today.

Amirudin said a briefing would be held between the Election Commission (EC) and the Selangor state assembly on March 30.

“After this, there will be another level of discussion at the joint committee meeting between the EC and the state government to view suggestions from both parties before we can present it at the next state assembly sitting.

“It will require a two-thirds majority support for it to be brought to the Dewan Rakyat,” he said.

He said the Selangor EC had informed him previously that there were 3.66 million registered voters in Selangor.

“We have 89,000 voters being registered automatically every month. That means 12 months from now, the total number of voters in Selangor will reach more than 4.6 million.”

The 20 seats mentioned by Amirudin have electorates ranging in size from about 50,000 to 72,000 based on 2018 voting data. The two largest electorates are in Kinrara (72,399) and Subang Jaya (74,023). The size of the others are:

• Batang Kali (49,000)
• Gombak Setia (55,461)
• Teratai (52,256)
• Semenyih (53,257)
• Kajang (62,170)
• Balakong (61,659)
• Sungai Ramal (54,961)
• Seri Serdang (52,826)
• Seri Setia (52,650)
• Bukit Lanjan (64,217)
• Kota Damansara (50,438)
• Kota Anggerik (52,282)
• Bandar Baru Klang (58,017)
• Pandamaran (57,522)
• Sentosa (51,444)
• Sungai Kandis (50,800)
• Kota Kemuning (46,777)
• Dengkil (50,466)

-FMT