KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 – A study on the redelinenation of electoral constituencies, which was postponed two years ago, will begin soon, said Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.
He said the redelineation of electoral constituencies and boundaries could be carried out in accordance with Article 113 (2) (ii) of the Federal Constitution as the last exercise was done eight years ago.
“The last exercise should have been conducted in 2011 as the last one was done in 2003, but we had to postpone it until the 13th general was over.
“The review and redelineation of the parliamentary and state constituencies has to be carried out as the constitution stipulates than the EC has to carry out the exercise once every eight years.
“So we will carry out the exercise gradually before submitting it to Parliament,” he told Bernama after an interview with Bernama TV on the ‘Hello Malaysia’ programme last night.
He said the redelineation exercise was very important because the country had undergone many changes, including migration of people from city to city, over the last 10 years.
“For example, when we review the electoral boundaries in 2003, Kota Damansara was not as advanced as it is now. There was no Mutiara Damansara then and many squatter settlements had been cleared to make way for apartments, so definitely the number of voters have changed,” he said. Commenting on Pakatan Rakyat’s call for the EC chairman and him to resign, claiming fraud in GE13, he said it was disrespectful of the constitution and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
He said as an independent body that did not represent any party and appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after consultation with the Conference of Rulers, the EC’s role should not be undermined.
“This call comes from narrow minded people. We had done our best. If we are not transparent and if the EC is in favour of Barisan Nasional, how come they could win 89 seats, and wrested Selangor and Penang easily?” he said.
Wan Ahmad said he believed the opposition had another agenda in mind or wanted to create havoc by inciting the people, particularly the younger generation by inflaming hatred.
-BERNAMA
