Based on Johore’s six new parliamentary seats, a fair and equitable redelineation based on distribution of population will give Selangor ten new seats instead of proposed five and one new seat each for Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah


Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

(Penang, Wednesday): Based on Johore’s six new parliamentary seats, a  fair and equitable redelineation of the electoral constituencies based on distribution of population will give Selangor ten new seats instead of the proposed five and one new seat each for Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. 

This could be seen from the  following table of registered voters for each state in peninsular Malaysia, with the number of parliamentary seats and proposed increase  in bracket during the 1993 and 2002 redelineation exercises:

  Registered voters 
                        
        

2002 1993 Increase Increase in Percentage
Perlis 109,750 (3)  97,978  (3)  11,772 12 %
Kedah 793,517 (15)  675,790 (15) 117,727 17.4 %
Kelantan   655,602 (14) 564,041 (14) 91,561 16.2 %
Terengganu 411,453 (8) 337,918 (8)  73,535 21.76 %
Penang 659,155 (13) 563,039 (11) 96,116 14.58 %
Perak 1,138,010 (24)  1,045,535 (23) 92,475 8.12 %
Pahang 554,534 (14)  456,834 (11) 97,700 21.39 %
Selangor 1,368,693 (22) 949,317 (17) 419,376 44.18 %
FT(KL) 664,233(11) 531,681 (10)   132,552 24.90 %
FT(Putrajaya) 85 (1) - - -
N.S.  417,712 (8) 347,975  (7) 69,737 20.04 %
Malacca 331,327 (6)  269,198  (5)    62,129 23 %
Johore 1,223,532(26)  982,484 (20) 241,048 24.53 %
FT(Labuan)    21,291 18,054


From the table, one is shocked  by the injustice of the redelineation exercise and cannot avoid making the following observations: 

  1. Selangor with the most number of registered voters with 1,368,693 voters  (an increase of 44.18% from the previous redelineation in 1993) is allocated 22 parliamentary seats as compared to Johore which is second with 1,223,532 voters (an increase of 24.53%) – a breach of the redelineation principle in previous redelineation exercises that the state in Peninsular Malaysia  with the most number of registered voters leads in having the most number of parliamentary seats. 

  2. Based on the proposed six-seat increase for Johore, Selangor should be allocated an increase of 10 new seats instead of the proposed five, so that it will have a total of 27 parliamentary seats (one more than the proposed 26 parliamentary seats for Johore, instead of being four parliamentary seats less). 

  3. A fair and equitable redelineation will give Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah one new seat each in view of the 16.2%, 21.76% and 17.4% increase of voters respectively since the last redelineation exercise, as Negri Sembilan and Malacca are allocated one new seat each with 20.04% and 23% increase of voters respectively. 

  4. There appears to be  no valid ground  for the allocation of one new  seat to Perak which had a 8.12% increase of voters as compared to the previous redelineation. 

  5. The three-seat increase for Pahang with 21.39 increase in voters, much less than the 21.76% increase registered by Terengganu, cries out for a full explanation by the Election Commission. 

The unfairness of the 2002 redelineation is also apparent from a comparison of the average number of electors per  parliamentary seat for each state with the 1993 redelineation, as follows: 

Purata Bilangan Pemilih Tiap-tiap Negeri

  1993 2002  
Perlis 32,000 36,583
Kedah

45,000

52,901
Kelantan 40,200 46,828
Terengganu 42,200        51,432
Pulau Pinang

51,000

50,704
Perak

45,400

47,417
Pahang

41,500

39,609
Selangor 55,800 62,213
Federal Territory  (Kuala Lumpur)  53,000 62,203
Negri Sembilan

49,700

52,214
Melaka 53,800 55,221
Johor 49,100 47,058

       

This raises two new questions:

  1. What is the policy reason  for increasing the state average of number of electors per parliamentary constituency for Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu while this is reduced for Penang, Pahang and Johore in the proposed redelineation as compared to the 1993 exercise? 

  2. What in particular, is the redelineation principle involved to justify the reduction of the state average of number of electors per parliamentary constituency for Johore from 49,100, which was much higher than Perlis 32,000, Kedah 45,000, Kelantan 40,200,  Terengganu 42,200 and Perak 45,400 in 1993 to 47,058, which is even lower than the proposed new state average for  Kedah 52,901,  Terengganu 51,432, as well as Perak 47,417 in 2002 – to justify allocating six new seats to Johore to have the most number of 26 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia,  smacking of gerrymandering

The Election Commission Secretary, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said yesterday said that those wishing to make counter-proposals to the recommendations by the Election Commission (EC) concerning re-delineation of electoral boundaries must do so with reasonable justification backed with accurate facts. 

The onus is on the Election Commission to explain what redelineation principles it had used for its proposals, which prima facie is most unfair and unreasonable and a departure from established principles of redelineation used in the past. 

The Election Commission had not been transparent enough when it made public its proposed recommendations for the redelineation of electoral constituencies, without  explaining  the reasons  and principles for its recommendations – especially where it had departed from its previous established practices. 

The Election Commission should answer the queries which had been posed so that the Malaysian public, whether political parties or the voters, can make informed and meaningful representation based on the explanations given by the Election Commission – so that the public consultation process does not become an empty exercise.   

(14/8/2002)


*Lim Kit Siang - DAP National Chairman