A former Election Commission (EC) official has suggested that the government consider amending the Federal Constitution so by-elections do not have to be carried out to fill a seat vacancy caused by the incumbent's unexpected demise.
Ex-EC deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said an amendment to Article 54 should be made to provide a special allocation to the party that won the seat in the election, so it can serve the constituency until the end of the term.
"The EC and the Attorney-General's Chambers should look into the need for this constitutional amendment for the sake of the country's democracy.
"The special allocation will enable the party which won the seat to look after the constituency and provide service there, without having to undergo a by-election," Wan Ahmad (above) told Utusan Malaysia in an interview.
The country will witness yet another by-election on Oct 7 for the Pelangai seat in Pahang. The state seat fell vacant after its incumbent Johari Harun of BN died in a plane crash at Elmina town in Shah Alam on Aug 17.
Earlier this month, twin by-elections for the Pulai parliamentary seat and the Simpang Jeram state seat in Johor took place after the death of its incumbent Salahuddin Ayub in July.
In August, the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat by-election was carried out in tandem with the six state elections after the court nullified the election results in last year's general election.
There is set to be another by-election, this time in Sarawak after Jepak assemblyperson Talib Zulpilip died two days ago.
Utusan reported that between 2008 and 2013, the country witnessed 16 by-elections, while there were 12 between 2013-2018, and 2018-2022, respectively.
A costly affair
Wan Ahmad pointed out that holding by-elections can be a costly affair, with the recently concluded Pulai and Simpang Jeram polls costing the EC a whopping RM6 million.
According to him, it is difficult for the EC to decide a set amount for any by-election as the cost may differ due to various factors, including the number of voters, EC workers, the terrain at the constituency, as well as transport and logistics.
Wan Ahmad said that a by-election to fill a state seat vacancy may cost between RM1.5 million and RM3 million, while for a parliamentary seat, the range is RM4 million to RM6 million.
Based on these numbers, Wan Ahmad estimated that the Finance Ministry has to set aside RM120 million for an average of 20 by-elections in the three years of a parliamentary/state assembly term.
It is worth noting that according to rules, by-elections do not have to be carried out to fill a vacancy in the last two years of a five-year parliamentary/state assembly term.
"The waste of taxpayers' money is compounded by the amount of money that other agencies have to spend in helping the EC in a by-election.
"In addition, political parties are also forced to fork out money every time they contest in a by-election," Wan Ahmad stressed. - Mkini
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