The parliamentary seats affected are Larut, Parit Buntar, Bukit Gantang, Taiping, Tambun, Ipoh Timor, Ipoh Barat, Batu Gajah, Beruas, Kampar, Gopeng, Tapah, Lumut, Bagan Datoh, Teluk Intan and Tanjong Malim.

Of these, six seats are held by DAP, six by Barisan Nasional (BN), two by PKR, one by Amanah and one by PAS.

The most notable change is in the parliamentary seat of Beruas, which will see a 55% increase in the number of voters with the addition of the Sitiawan state seat transferred from the adjacent Lumut parliamentary seat.

The Sitiawan state seat will also see a name change to Astaka, a large field in town which was part of a colonial-era Sitiawan airfield. It now houses a mini-stadium and a food court.

Incumbent Beruas MP and Sitiawan assemblyman Ngeh Koo Ham is naturally unhappy with the renaming of the state seat, saying it is illogical to call it Astaka.

“Astaka is just a small enclave with a field in Sitiawan. It is also totally illogical especially with the Sitiawan name having a history spanning more than two centuries,” he told FMT.

EC accepted the proposal to rename the seat to Astaka by Perak state executive councillor Saarani Mohamad and two others during the first objection hearing.

The EC accepted the proposal after taking into account the “commercial value and development plans in the area”.

On the Beruas parliamentary seat swelling to a staggering 76,294 voters compared with 49,205 voters previously, Ngeh said it had its pros and cons.

He said by moving Sitiawan out from Lumut to Beruas, Lumut would effectively become a Malay super-majority seat.

“Lumut will be greatly at a disadvantage but Beruas will be a better seat for PH.

“MCA had objected to the transfer (of Sitiawan) because it will become a hugely Malay majority seat. Looks like MCA will have to give way to Umno in Lumut,” Ngeh said.

In the 2013 general election, Lumut, a 53% Malay seat, was won by PKR’s Mohamad Imran Abd Hamid who defeated BN’s Kong Cho Ha with an 8,168-vote majority.

The bulk of the winning votes for Lumut came from the Sitiawan state seat, which is a 74% Chinese seat. The other two seats under Lumut – Pasir Panjang and Pangkor – are held by BN, with Pangkor’s assemblyman being Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir.

The Beruas parliamentary seat had a majority of 52% Chinese voters in 2013.

FMT has tracked the changes in eight other parliamentary seats in Perak as follows:

Larut

There has been a shift of 3,298 voters from the state seat of Batu Kurau to Kubu Gajah. The polling districts affected are Pantai Besar, Relang, Jelai and Kampong Ayer Hitam. Both state seats are held by BN.

There will be a total of 46,262 voters in Larut in the coming polls, lower than 46,577 in the last polls. The Larut seat is held by Domestic Trade, Cooperatives, and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainudin.

Parit Buntar

There will be a total of 49,951 voters in the coming polls, lower than 51,422 in the last poll. The seat is held by Amanah’s Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who contested under a PAS ticket in 2013.

Only two state seats under Parit Buntar are affected, with 2,336 voters from Titi Serong transferred to Kuala Kurau. Titi Serong is held by PAS while Kuala Kurau is held by PKR.

Bukit Gantang

Approximately 11,000 voters have been transferred out of Bukit Gantang to the adjacent Taiping seat, which is held by DAP.

The incumbent MP for Bukit Gantang is PAS’ Idris Ahmad.

Taiping

The DAP stronghold will have 86,432 voters in the coming polls, compared with 78,148 voters in the last polls.

With an addition of nearly 11,000 voters from neighbouring Bukit Gantang, the only change is in the state seats of Aulong and Pokok Assam.

A total of 6,531 voters from the Museum and Simpang Road polling districts have been shifted out from Aulong to Pokok Assam. Both seats are held by DAP.

Tambun

There will be a total of 96,437 voters in the coming polls, compared with 89,435 voters in 2013. The seat is currently held by BN’s Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

There were no figures of voters transferred, but an objection to shifting voters from the Manjoi state seat to the Jelapang state seat was recorded.

Ipoh Timor

There are 89,218 voters now compared with 81,818 when DAP won the seat in 2013.

There is a big transfer of voters from the neighbouring Gopeng parliamentary seat, with 11,418 voters from the Sungai Rapat state seat moved to the Tebing Tinggi state seat, which is under Ipoh Timor.

The 11,418 voters are from the Pengkalan Gate, Pengkalan Pegoh and Pengkalan Barat polling districts.

Within the Ipoh Timor seat, there has been a transfer of 7,604 voters from the Tebing Tinggi state seat to the Pasir Pinji state seat, involving the polling districts of Housing Trust, Kampar Road, and Jalan Bendahara.

The polling district of Jalan Tun Perak from the neighbouring Ipoh Barat parliamentary seat has also been brought over to Ipoh Timor, with 521 voters inserted in the Tebing Tinggi state seat.

A total of 3,152 voters from the Jalan C M Yusof and Jalan Raja Ekram polling districts in the Tebing Tinggi state seat have been transferred out to the Ipoh Barat parliamentary constituency. The voters are now under the Kepayang state seat.

Another 3,329 voters from Canning state seat, in Ipoh Timor, are now in the adjacent Hulu Kinta, which is part of the Tambun parliamentary seat.

Ipoh Barat

This DAP-held seat will have 82,041 voters in the coming polls, compared with 77,761 in 2013.

The increase is due to over 4,000 voters being transferred from the neighbouring parliamentary seats of Ipoh Timur and Tambun. A bulk of the transferred voters are from the Tebing Tinggi state constituency in Ipoh Timor.

When contacted, incumbent MP M Kulasegaran said his own research showed about 5,000 voters were moved out of his constituency while another 12,000 voters were transferred in.

Batu Gajah

A total of 77,931 voters will vote in Batu Gajah in the coming polls, a sharp drop from the 87,587 voters in the last polls.

Currently held by DAP’s V Sivakumar, it is not known which polling districts were transferred over to Batu Gajah.

The only transfer of voters out of Batu Gajah is the Kuala Pari Hilir polling district with 624 voters to the adjacent Ipoh Timor parliamentary seat.

A major shift within Batu Gajah is the Bukit Kledang polling district, where 3,818 voters have been transferred from the Menglembu state seat to the Jelapang state seat. Both state seats are held by DAP.