Redelineation

1. If in GE13, you voted in Subang, then this time it is going to be Sungai Buloh. If before, you voted in Petaling Jaya, now it is going to be Damansara. GE14 is no more the same as previous election for you.

2. On the 28th March, Datuk Seri Najib has tabled the Election Commission's (EC) report on redelineation. It was passed one day later. Agong then gave his assent and it was finally gazetted.

3. Before i go into detail on the issue, let me first briefly explain on what actually redelineation is. EC divides Malaysia into 222 parliamentary seats and 587 state seats. The whole process is called delineation. Redelineation is a process of redrawing voting boundaries based on the geographical areas. It can only be changed once every 8 years. The purpose of it is said to create a fairer system and the population growth are taken into account as one of the reason for redelineation.

4. Looking at 2007, there were 8.3 million voters and in 2016, the number of voters hiked up to 36%. Based on the EC report, there is a huge increase in number of registered voters in Selangor and has been the main reason for the redelineation. Voters in Selangor had increased by 51.8% since the last redelineation which was in 2003.

5. The redelineation has resulted in racial segregation as it moved different races into different constituencies. In Perak, for instance, Malay voters were moved into BN areas and chinese voters were moved into Pakatan Harapan seats while indian voters were packed into BN marginal seats. The indians are playing a big role in deciding who wins the marginal seats. A swing in indian votes may result in BN winning the marginal seats.

6. The racial segregation will not give any advantage to the country. The EC new redelineation will cause great racial tension and even worst, it may result in racial riot. It is undoubtedly that the 13th May incident may happen again if racial cards are being used in the upcoming general election. It is common for any political party, either BN or Harapan to use racial sentiments during election. It happens in almost every election where politicians play racial sentiments.

7. Redelineation is a good thing to be exercised every 8 years for a clean and fair election. But it should never involves interference from any political party. EC should be doing it alone and must be totally independent from any political interference. EC should never be politically incline towards any party. Only then we can get a fairer election. Besides, redelineation based on racial groups should not be done at the first place. It will only divide us apart and far worst creates racial tension among Malaysians. The redelineation made me wonder, "where is the 1 Malaysia spirit initiated by Datuk Seri Najib?". Has it gone away just like how the chinese had swung their votes away for Pakatan in the past election?