Three elections on, time for redelineation, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR: It has been 15 years since the last redelineation exercise, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak noted as he tabled the Election Commission (EC) report in Parliament on Wednesday.

"The last time the redelineation was passed was in 2003, and it was used in three general elections – GE11 in 2004, GE12 in 2008 and GE13 in 2013.

"Seeing that the eight-year period has already passed, the EC therefore has conducted the redelineation exercise," said Najib in tabling the report for its first reading.

The report, said Najib, was prepared for states in Peninsular Malaysia including Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, which span 132,000 sq km.

It also covers the Peninsular population of 24.76 million people, he said, citing the Statistics Department.

Najib said the report submitted to him by the EC consists of five main chapters that explain the history of redelineation, the legal allocations for such an exercise to be conducted, demographic data, and recommendations, among others.

He said the study on the redelineation was done using voters' registration data that was gazetted on May 13 and Sept 6, 2016, where the number of registered voters stood at 11,379,352.

The previous redelineation study in 2003 used Dec 27, 2007 data that showed there were 8,347,107 registered voters.

"This means that the number of registered voters has increased by 36% or about three million people," said Najib.

The Prime Minister also said the Government has scrutinised the proposed redelineation report by the EC and will not propose any amendments to it.

The three-volume report was placed on the tables of lawmakers last Thursday (March 22).

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia announced that the report was embargoed until the first reading today (March 28).

The report was leaked online last week on a file-sharing website.

The motion on the proposed redelineation will be debated by lawmakers and will be put to vote.

It will then be gazetted upon receiving the Royal assent. It need not go to the Senate to be debated and passed.

The motion also needs a simple majority of 111 lawmakers to be passed, after which the Prime Minister is widely expected to dissolve Parliament to pave the way for GE14.