KOTA KINABALU: Opposition leaders in Sabah have dismissed election watchdog Bersih 2.0’s call to drop the 2017 delimitation of constituencies for Sabah, saying political parties have long waited for the increase in state seats from 60 to 73.
PBS president Maximus Ongkili said all political parties in the state had called for it to be tabled in Parliament ever since the Sabah state assembly passed it in 2016.
“We don’t see why the proposed delineation is regarded as malicious and flawed.
“The Election Commission’s (EC) submission has gone through the required constitutional and legal processes. Let Parliament have the final say,” said the Kota Marudu MP to FMT.
Bersih 2.0 had yesterday, in a statement, urged Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to drop the 2017 delimitation proposal for Sabah, describing it as “malicious, flawed and obsolete”.
The bill was listed at number five in the Dewan Rakyat Order Paper on Monday. The debate is scheduled for July 17.
De facto law minister Liew Vui Keong had said the government was expected to submit the motion along with the EC report on July 17.
Bersih 2.0’s steering committee had said the proposal was in direct contrast to Pakatan Harapan’s promise to ensure a fair ratio in the delimitation exercise for constituencies.
Bersih 2.0 said if the “obsolete proposal” was not withdrawn, all parliamentarians, especially the 25 MPs from Sabah, should vote against it as the delineation was disadvantageous to Sabahans, especially the youth.
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Bersih 2.0 had alleged that the 2017 delimitation was meant to distort Sabah’s electorate choice and sow division and discontent between regions and communities, facilitating the divide-and-rule scheme by powers outside Sabah.
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) has called on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to drop the 2017 delimitation proposal for Sabah, which it said would be a disadvantage to Sabahans, especially the youth.
The proposal, tabled in Parliament on Monday (July 8) and slated for debate on July 17, was described as "malicious, flawed and obsolete" by Bersih 2.0, saying that the exercise would be another episode of Sabah's pain caused by the Federal Government's "bad and wrong decisions".
"Bersih 2.0 reminds the Prime Minister that the Government's bold moves to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 and allow automatic registration will expand the electorate by eight million, adding to the current 14.9 million.
"As the expansion of the electorate will exacerbate malapportionment, all states with severe malapportionment of federal and state constituencies should have another round of delimitation after both the lowered voting age and automatic registration are fully implemented," said the Bersih 2.0 steering committee in a statement on Tuesday (July 9).
Implementing the 2017 delimitation proposal for Sabah would waste the Election Commission (EC) resources and furthermore, it was based on electoral rolls dated May 13, 2016, then with a total of only 995,729 voters, said Bersih 2.0.
"If the obsolete 2017 proposal is put in place and kept effective until 2025, the lowering of the voting age will become a farce when excited new voters in urban areas find out their ballot is worth less than 1/5 or 1/6 of rural voters.
"The government and the Youth and Sports Ministry will bear the brunt of the youth's anger, who would feel cheated," it added.
The old proposal by the EC also embodied severe malapportionment, said Bersih 2.0, illustrating that Sabah's largest state constituency, N69 Sri Tanjung, would have 25,104 voters, or 4.5 times the number of voters in the state's smallest constituency, N01 Banggi, with only 5,485 voters.
"Altogether, the seven largest state constituencies would have more than twice as many voters as the eight smallest state constituencies," it said.
The disparity amongst parliamentary constituencies would also be severe, with the semi urban P171 Sepanggar (55,294), the rural P188 Lahad Datu (52,343) and the semi-rural P169 Kota Belud (51,767) having more than twice the electorate as the rural P183 Beluran (24,916).
"The previous EC's deliberate plan to malapportion parliamentary and state constituencies in Sabah was meant to not only distort Sabah electorate's choice, but also to maliciously sow division and discontent between regions and communities in the State, to facilitate the "divide and rule" scheme by power outside Sabah," it said.
Totally agree to increase the Sabah state assembly seats from 60 to 73 which will also increase finally the number of Parliamentary seats which also ensures better representation of Sabahans in Parliament according to the Federal Constitution.
Who knows, whether those from opposition parties and their leaders who think gerrymandering will serve their political purpose will instead see Karma biting them back when the voters becomes disilllusioned/ disunited/distrust in their leaders/parties in their own constituencies and rebel?
Or wouldn't it make whoever is the ruling Govt. easier to prioritise, deny or grant development to opposition held seats so that they are blamed for the lack of progress or development in their constituencies and will fall come the next election?
Art Harun has already explained this can’t be changed for 8 years unless Parliament amends the constitution or nullifies the previous delineation. To do that Harapan needs 2/3 majority, which they don’t have. So will the opposition support to cancel the previous one and allow the new EC to do it again before GE15? That would mean delineation for the whole country, not just Sabah.
ini pun salah mahathir?
ReplyDeleteAh Mok's dog in Australia died and it's Mahathir's fault,
DeleteTotally agree to increase the Sabah state assembly seats from 60 to 73 which will also increase finally the number of Parliamentary seats which also ensures better representation of Sabahans in Parliament according to the Federal Constitution.
ReplyDeleteWho knows, whether those from opposition parties and their leaders who think gerrymandering will serve their political purpose will instead see Karma biting them back when the voters becomes disilllusioned/ disunited/distrust in their leaders/parties in their own constituencies and rebel?
Or wouldn't it make whoever is the ruling Govt. easier to prioritise, deny or grant development to opposition held seats so that they are blamed for the lack of progress or development in their constituencies and will fall come the next election?
Wakakakakaka
The gerrymandering was done by the previous EC.
ReplyDeleteArt Harun has already explained this can’t be changed for 8 years unless Parliament amends the constitution or nullifies the previous delineation. To do that Harapan needs 2/3 majority, which they don’t have. So will the opposition support to cancel the previous one and allow the new EC to do it again before GE15? That would mean delineation for the whole country, not just Sabah.