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New constituencies: Both must agree says EC

K Pragalath| June 8, 2013

The EC is worried that neither BN nor Pakatan Rakyat have a two third majority to amend the law.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission (EC) is hoping that politicians from Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat would put the nation’s interest first when weighing in new constituencies.

Speaking at a Bar Council organized seminar on Constituency delineation- Knowing where to draw the line – EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said: “We are very worried. Both sides have to agree for the sake of the country.

“The government doesn’t have its two third majority. I don’t want to explore this matter now.”

Under the law, creation of new constituency, is done under Article 46 of the Federal Constitution.

Approving the creation of  new constituencies would require the consent of two thirds of the legislators.

This is because Article 46 would need to be amended. This is in contrast to alterations of boundaries which can be done with a simple majority in parliament.

In the recently concluded 13th general election, BN only obtained 133 parliamentary seats whereas Pakatan Rakyat clinched 89 seats out of a total 222 seats.

Wan Ahmad confirmed that delineation process would take place end of this year and would include creating new parliamentary constituencies.

“We will create new seats in urban areas, especially in Selangor, Johor and Negeri Sembilan,” he said.

In the event BN and Pakatan failed to compromise on the forming of new constituencies, then the EC would look another option.

“If we cannot create parliamentary seats, we will create more state seats,” he said saying that the state seats can be merged into existing parliament seats.

FPTP still good

Wan Ahmad also responded to questions on the possibility of implementing the proportional representation (PR) system used in other countries in relation to the polls.

Malaysia currently uses the first past the post system (FPTP).

“We’re going to study the PR system in New Zealand. New Zealand had moved from FPTP towards PR system in 1990 and practices a mixed system.

“It is not a system that produces the best result. Malaysia is not ready for PR,” he said.

He also defended the FPTP system in Malaysia.

“Our forefathers chose the FPTP for less politicking. We have reached the current level of development because of our electoral system.

Wan Ahmad also said that he would  look into voter variations between constituencies.

“The law is silent on this but it is a concern of many now. I’ll take it as a concern and our chairman will look into it seriously,” he said.