YOURSAY | ‘After all, what is a little gerrymandering to give BN the advantage?’

Why is state seat bigger than parliamentary seats, voter asks EC

David Dass: These complaints (on the Election Commission redelineation of electoral seats), if true, are serious complaints.

Aggregating non-Malay or opposition votes into larger constituencies and segregating Malay voters into separate and smaller constituencies is wrong.

There might have been some justification for weighting rural constituencies at the time of independence. But there is no more justification today.

Certainly not with the Malay population making up at least 50-odd percent of the population, and with Malays making a substantial presence in all urban areas.

This undermines the value of the non-Malay vote and totally destroys the democratic principle of one-person, one-vote. It also undermines the equality principle.

It sets race against race and has no aspiration objective - that all candidates whatever their race or religion must serve all their constituents.

And because there is a split in the Malay vote, will there also be attempts to separate the 'friendlies' from the 'unfriendlies'? The EC is an independent body and should strive to do its job honestly.

Anonymous_40f4: How can the people change a corrupt government through elections if there is constantly a massive amount of alleged cheating taking place, not only by the government but also by the EC?

Bring It On: Good going to Subang Jaya resident Theresa Ratnam for taking the time to attend the EC’s inquiry. She sounds like a smart voter and this is what Malaysia needs.

In fact, her questions for the EC are very valid. How can they simply enlarge the Subang Jaya seat when it is already too big now? Moreover, it’s not a parliamentary seat, and meanwhile, there are some parliament seats which are very small.

What are they thinking? Oh yes, they don’t think.

Well, hopefully with this added pressure put on the EC by concerned members of the public in Selangor, all other voters would also benefit if the EC listens to what we're saying. They must stop simply following what Najib Razak’s government allegedly tells them to do.

They are not supposed to be working for Najib - we are their bosses, not Umno/BN.

They think they can use these tricks to keep their power but the rakyat will still vote them out, I promise!

Drngsc: You are right, Theresa. They are desperate and doing ridiculous things.

Thanks for standing up for your rights as a voter and for all of us. I wish I knew about this EC inquiry process sooner; I would have joined you.

Ravinder: The reason is simple - if the redelineation is to the advantage of BN, then it is legitimate.

The previous chairperson of the EC had made it clear that redelineations done during his time were for the purpose of ensuring that BN would remain in power. That purpose is even more important today.

Chokstone: In order to avoid further destruction of a fair election, the opposition should give the civil servants a stern warning that whoever has abused their power for the benefit of a certain party would be punished heavily when the new government comes into power.

Without such a firm warning, these government department heads will take it (abuse of power) for granted and the opposition would lose out.

As we all know, we are in a “tidak apa” (no big deal) land, where all those committing wrongdoing have been used to it because as long as they are on the side of Malaysian Official 1 (MO1), they could go without being punished no matter how serious a crime they have committed.

Hang Babeuf: Umno and its EC can, and will, go on doing all that they like in order to, somehow, "win" the election, they will "get the numbers" where and how they are needed.

But the more it plays that game of “whatever it takes”, the less can any election provide what Umno/BN - like any political party anywhere - wants from the electoral process; namely, democratic legitimacy.

A tainted and distorted system breeds only cynicism, not the moral authority to govern. Do Umno and the EC not realise that? Or do they simply not care?

Another BN man raises objection at S’gor EC inquiry

Oscar Kilo: I'm surprised that MCA leaders even understand the meaning of "malapportionment". But why is MCA branch leader BL Yong comparing only between Damansara and Sungai Buloh?

What about Kuala Selangor or Sekinchan? Those constituencies are tiny compared to other Klang Valley constituencies. We're talking about ratios of four to one.

OMG!: Indeed, what Yong was objecting to would also apply in many other constituencies. But the EC doesn’t give a damn about the "one man, one vote" principle.

Anonymous 2449671483368245: Yes, our EC that does not seem to understand and respect the very basic concept of 'one-man-one-vote". That alone says a lot about the EC.

Apa Ini?: The only person who can do anything about the EC is the Agong. Will he do the necessary to hold these EC manipulators to account?

Peninsular Rhino: The EC exists to make sure that the BN rules the country till the end of time. So it doesn’t matter to the EC if they violate the constitution in broad daylight.

After all, if the attorney-general can clear Najib of money laundering and corruption despite ample evidence, what is a little gerrymandering here and there to give a win to BN?

So, the EC is giving a greater weight to Sungai Buloh rather than Damansara simply because it thinks BN supporters count for double that of opposition supporters.

Well, the people will reject the BN in both constituencies!

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