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KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission is looking at increasing Parliament seats by about 15% to 20% in its redelineation exercise, with new seats being carved out in Selangor, Johor, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, among others.
EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said its redelineation report was three-quarters complete and would be ready “within the first six months of this year”.
He said EC was looking to split seats in states like Selangor, Perak and Johor where there are more than 60,000 to 70,000 voters.
“We are definitely splitting Kapar. The number of voters in Kapar is about 144,000; by now it must be 150,000.
“We got feedback from elected representatives that it was too difficult to service their voters when their constituency is too big and we heard from voters that it is difficult for them to get to see their elected representative. So we must do something,” he said in an interview.
He said other seats in Selangor that EC was looking to split include Klang, Shah Alam, Gombak, Serdang, Kelana Jaya and Subang Jaya which also have a huge number of voters.
As for Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, he said these states had no new seats in the last redelineation exercise so there was a need to increase seats there.
“Tumpat has the largest number of voters (98,000) in Kelantan and we plan to split it into two constituencies. Baling in Kedah is a rural constituency but it has a large number of voters (93,000 voters). That too should be split,” he added.
He said that generally all states would see some increase in seats.
“If you look at the past redelineations there has been about a 20% increase. We more or less follow that trend,” he said, adding that the total number of Parliament seats proposed would be an odd number (to prevent a possibility of a hung parliament) instead of the present 222 seats.
To a question, Abdul Aziz denied EC was targeting to split seats won by Pakatan Rakyat so as to give Barisan Nasional a better chance in the next general election.
“We cover our eyes when we do this delineation exercise. We don’t look at which party or who won the seat or who is going to win. That is not our consideration at all.”
To increase the number of seats, there has to be a two-third majority in Parliament voting for it.
“Barisan, the ruling party, has only a simple majority, which brings some uncertainty as to whether the EC report to increase seats would be passed.
Asked if it would be a slap in the face for EC if Parliament rejected the report, Abdul Aziz said “not at all”.
“At least we have done our job. It is our constitutional responsibility to do the delineation exercise. We will be condemned if we don’t do it,” he added.
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