THE Selangor re-delineation exercise proposed by the Election Commission (EC) is a form of “ethnic gerrymandering” aimed at helping Barisan Nasional win back marginal state seats at the next elections, said Serdang lawmaker Dr Ong Kian Ming.

Based on the second notice of the Selangor delimitation released on Monday, several state seats won by a slim majority by Pakatan Rakyat in the 13^th general election (GE13) will see the percentage of Malay voters increased by 5% to 10%, Ong said.

State seats which the then PR pact won comfortably in GE13, however, had their percentage of non-Malay voters increased, he said.

“On the surface, it seems that the second notice (or Syor 2) of the Selangor delimitation exercise released on January 14 reverts the boundaries of the parliamentary and state seats in Selangor back to the boundaries used in the 2013 general election,” Ong said in a statement.

“But a deeper examination of the polling districts that were shifted shows that the EC is guilty of ‘ethnic gerrymandering’ with the intention of helping Barisan Nasional (specifically Umno) win back some of these marginal state seats.”

Ong said that six state seats where the percentage of Malay voters were increased by more than 5%  were Ijok, Hulu Kelang,  Lembah Jaya,  Chempaka (renamed Pandah Indah), Morib and Sijangkang.

According to the second notice, Ijok, a seat which was won by PKR by 739 votes in GE13, will have the percentage of Malay voters increased from 50% to 60.4%.

In Hulu Kelang, which was won by PAS by 2,881 votes in GE13, the percentage of Malay voters increased from 80.8% to 86.6% and in Lembah Jaya, which was won by PAS by 8,713 votes, the percentage of Malay voters increased from 54.5% to 62.2%.

Chempaka, which was proposed to be renamed as Pandan Indah, won by PAS by 9,608 votes will see the percentage of Malay voters increased from 53.0% to 61.7%.

In Sijangkang, which was won by PAS by 766 votes, the percentage of Malay voters increased from 66.6% to 71.7% and in Morib, which was won by PAS by 2,942 votes, the percentage of Malay voters increased from 62.5% to 73.4%.

PAS has cut off ties with the new Pakatan Harapan coalition and has courted warmer ties with Umno leaders.

The Islamist party’s president has said that it aims to win 40 parliamentary seats in GE14, thus putting PAS in a kingmaker position to form the federal government.

Ong, who is from DAP, said in Bukit Antarabangsa, which was won by PKR by 4,044 votes in GE13, the Malay percentage decreased from 57.1% in GE13 to 41.6%.

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali’s state seat will become a Chinese-majority seat (from 35.6% to 50.5%) if the second notice is passed.

A similar pattern of ethnic gerrymandering was evident in other PH “safe seats”, said Ong.

In Teratai, which was won by DAP by 13,646 votes, the percentage of Chinese voters increased from 59.0% in GE2013 to 62.1%, while in Teluk Datuk, which is proposed to be renamed as Banting, was won by DAP by 5,391 votes, the percentage of Chinese voters increased significantly from 45.0% to 59.6%.

EC chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah said the re-delination process can be implemented within days once it gets the royal assent.

Prime Minister Najib Razak will decide on whether to proceed with the EC’s final report by getting the approval from the Dewan Rakyat.

The new boundaries for parliamentary and state constituencies can be implemented if Parliament approves the re-delineation proposal at its next seating in March.

“The commission will submit its final report to the prime minister after a second local inquiry, to hear further objections to the re-delineation in Selangor is done,” The Star reports.

The second local inquiry will be held after the EC’s public display of the updated boundaries for the state ends on February 14.

A simple majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat is needed to approve the re-delineation proposal. – January 17, 2018.