THE Election Commission will only submit its report on new electoral boundaries to the prime minister once all court cases on the issue have been resolved.

EC chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah said the full report will contain its proposed new boundaries for all states, including Selangor, with which the commission is entangled in a legal tussle.

Hashim’s statement means the report on the redrawing of boundaries, called “redelineation”, is unlikely to be tabled in the current Dewan Rakyat sitting, which ends on November 30.

Selangor’s case against the EC’s redelineation exercise is due to be heard at the High Court on December 6.

“After the case concerning the redelineation exercise involving Selangor is conclusively decided by the court and the EC has completed the process of delimitation… and the reports on it have been completed for the peninsula (including Selangor), then the commission will submit its final report to the prime minister for further action,” Hashim said in a statement to The Malaysian Insight.

The redelineation exercise, which started in 2016, has attracted a storm of controversy from electoral reform groups and the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition.

They claim it creates polarised parliamentary and state constituencies. Selangor MPs claim the exercise is meant to give the ruling Barisan Nasional an edge in the 14th general election in its quest to reclaim the state.

The Selangor government is suing the EC to court over the redelineation exercise in the state. It has also attempted to file an injunction barring the EC from submitting its delimitation report to the prime minister.

On October 30, the Court of Appeal ruled against granting the Selangor government the injunction. It overturned a previous High Court decision in favour of Selangor.

The Court of Appeal decision sparked speculation that the EC could submit its report – without the complete redelineation exercise in Selangor – to Prime Minister Najib Razak for tabling in the Dewan Rakyat. – November 3, 2017.