Ipoh Barat MP M Kula Segaran and the Ipoh Timor MP Thomas Su Keong Siong said in a statement they had raised objections to the first proposed recommendation by the EC on Sept 15 last year and a local enquiry was held. However, they have received no reply to their complaints.
They said “suddenly”, on March 8, the second notice of the proposed recommendations were advertised in daily newspapers. Kula wrote to the EC but was told, again without being given reasons as to why their views had not been incorporated, that a second local enquiry would be held.
In their application, they say the number of voters within each constituency in Perak is not equal pursuant to Section 2(c), of the 13th Schedule, of the Federal Constitution.
The voters will not have equal voting powers as the parliamentary constituency with the lowest number of voters is 28,078 whereas the constituency with the highest number of voters is 96,437. This disparity of 3.2: 1 shows clear disparity in the electorate power, they say.
Following the equal apportionment principle in Section 2(c), they argue, each constituency should have approximately 58,614 electors.
“However, the current delimitation exercise worsens the electorate disparity,” they say in their application.
They claim the proposed recommendations will disrupt the maintenance of local ties. Section 2(d), of the 13th Schedule, of the constitution requires that any proposed recommendation preserve local ties, and amendments be made to areas where local ties were severed in the earlier redelineation exercises.
The two DAP lawmen also say the proposed recommendations would have a major effect on the ethnic composition of the constituencies of Ipoh Barat and Ipoh Timur.
“Most extraordinarily, the impact of the 2016 proposed recommendations has the biggest impact on the ethnic composition of N26 Tebing Tinggi state seat whereby the percentage of Malay voters is estimated to increase from 20.5% in general election 2013 to 56.8%. The percentage of the Chinese voters is estimated to decrease from 73.1% in GE 2013 to 34.3%. The percentage of Indian voters is estimated to increase from 5.9% in GE 2013 to 8.7%.”
They say this unequal voting power also amounts to a violation of the guarantee of equality and non-discrimination under Article 8(1) and (2) of the constitution.
In addition, they say, they are entitled to a fair hearing and all necessary rights under the rules of natural justice in the local enquiries conducted by the EC over the redelineation exercise.
The say the EC has also failed to provide reasons for its decision not to incorporate the objections made during the local enquiries.
They say it is legitimate to expect that reasons will be given when views and complaints are not taken into account in issuing the proposed recommendations.
In view of this, they have also applied for a stay of the second local enquiry “as there is a probability that the matter will become academic once the Election Commission submits its report to the prime minister”, and then tabled in Parliament.