DAP MPs will not support lop-sided constituency delineations whereby the number of voters in urban seats are several times more than the number of voters in rural seats, said National DAP vice-chairperson Chong Chieng Jen. The Sarawak DAP chief and the MP for Bandar Kuching added he was sure PKR and PAS were with him on this. “Unless the Election Commission puts in practice the principle of ‘one person, one vote, one value’ in the next constituency re-delineation exercise, there is no way that there will be any re-delineation or increase in state or Parliament seats. Chong (left) was referring to a recent statement issued by the Sarawak EC that it is is planning to create nine new state constituencies in Sarawak. Coincidentally there are nine elected representatives who have quit SUPP and SPDP and are now in the United People’s Party (UPP) and Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras). They seem to have no seats to contest in the coming state elections given that SUPP and SPDP are strongly against them, he mooted. “Without the consent of MPs from Pakatan, there is no way that the EC can re-delineate the state andpParliamentary constituencies. “It seems that the creation of these nine seats is tailor-made for these nine. As a matter of principle, such an intention in constituency re-delineation is wrong. This is using taxpayers’ money to solve the internal squabble of BN. “To increase the number of state or Parliamentary constituencies, the EC needs to get the support of no less than two-thirds of the Dewan Raykat. At present, there are 222 MPs in the House, out of which 86 are Pakatan MPs, 135 BN MPs and one Independent MP. “If there were to be any constituency re-delineation, BN will need to have at least 148 MPs supporting such a motion. With its present 135 members and one Independent, it is still 12 short,” he said. Every eight years He added the constitution says there should be constituency re-delineation every eight years. The last re-delineation exercise for Parliamentary seats was carried out in 2003 and as for Sarawak state constituencies, it was done in 2005. “As such, it is overdue for another constituency re-delineation exercise, but BN will not do it because without the two-thirds majority support in Parliament, BN cannot engage in gerrymandering to enhance its winning chances. “Ultimately, being what SUPP and SPDP have always been, they will just kow-tow to the wishes of the PBB and the chief minister of the day. As such, I foresee these two parties compromising their stand in the allocation of seats. “Say what they like, they will ultimately give up some of their seats to UPP and Teras, said Chong, who is also the Kota Sentosa assemblyperson.malaysiakini/news/273900
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 09:17:12 +0000
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