THE Election Commission (EC) will hold the first public hearing for objections to new electoral boundaries proposed for Selangor next week, following the state government’s failure to stop the redelineation exercise in court on Monday.

In a letter to Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh sighted by The Malaysian Insight, the EC said the hearing for the Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat will be held next Wednesday from 3.30pm to 4pm at Grand Bluewave Hotel in Shah Alam.

It said 20 objectors, whose names were on the electoral roll and on the protest form the commission had vetted, would be allowed to attend the inquiry.

“A spokesperson has to be appointed among the 20 objectors who are attending,” the letter dated December 19 instructed.

It added that the public hearing would proceed regardless of whether Yeoh attended it or not, and in the event she would be absent, she should submit a written explanation for her objection to the redelineation before the day of the hearing.

In an immediate reaction, electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah criticised the bad timing of the inquiry.

“As the inquiry in Selangor is taking place next week during the long Christmas and New Year holidays, it is clear that the EC is deliberately disenfranchising voters for the sake of a political agenda,” said Maria.

Pakatan Harapan believes that once the public inquiry wraps up, BN will hold a special parliamentary session next year to bulldoze the redelineation proposal through Parliament before the 14th general election.

“To rush for the elections is an unacceptable move as the EC has until  September 2018 to complete its tasks,” Maria added.

She said the rushed procedure showed the commission’s lack of independence and its disrespect for a just and representative redelineation process, pointing out that the commission had not addressed Bersih’s objections to the new electoral boundaries.

Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong said the haste showed the commission intended to derail the Selangor government’s appeal process and render any court decision later academic.

“This kind of desperate measure only shows that Umno is fixated on gerrymandering and skewing the electoral boundaries in Selangor in its favour. This is a grave travesty of justice,” said Wong.

Selangor lawmakers have argued that the new electoral boundaries are unfairly drawn to favour the ruling Barisan Nasional, a contention that the EC and BN have not adequately addressed. – December 20, 2017.