PM: New borders are good for elected reps

KUALA LUMPUR: The recommendations in the redelineation report are to help elected representatives carry out their services in a more efficient and effective manner, said the Prime Minister.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the proposed report dispelled any perception and allegation that the recommendations only benefited certain parties.

“It must be noted that there were some recommendations by the Election Commission that were not agreed on by various parties, including those from the Government side.

“However, the Government did not meddle with or influence the EC in carrying out its duties. We respect the commission’s decision,” said Najib when tabling the report for its first reading yesterday.

He had been scheduled to table it at 11.30am, but could only do it an hour later as Opposition lawmakers began to protest.

They claimed it would be sub judice to table the report, as there were several court cases pending on the matter.

Najib noted that based on the recommendations outlined by the EC in the report, it was difficult to equally divide the state and parliamentary constituencies as some rural constituencies differed from one another in terms of topography and demography.

This, he said, created a constraint in terms of communications and transportation.

“As such, the concentration of populations in the urban area is much higher compared to those in the rural areas.

“But I was made to understand that the EC tried its level best to reduce the burden of the elected representatives, especially in areas where communications and transportation are restricted,” he added.

The Prime Minister also said the Government had scrutinised the proposed redelineation report and would not suggest any amendment.

Najib added that it had been 15 years since the last redelineation exercise.

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

According to the Statistics Department, the population of the country in 2015 stood at 24.76 million people, he said.

Najib said the report consisted of five main chapters that explained the history of redelineation, legal allocations for such an exercise to be conducted, demographic data and recommendations, among others.

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

The previous redelineation study in 2003 used data from Dec 27, 2001, and showed that there were 8,347,107 registered voters.

“This means the number of registered voters has increased by 36% or about three million people,” Najib added.

The three-volume report was placed on the tables of lawmakers last Thursday.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia announced an embargo on the report until the first reading yesterday.

However, the report was leaked online within hours.

The proposed redelineation now just needs Royal assent before coming into force.