@VellPaari : Redelineation exercise is a part of Malaysia's democracy system and process

1. Yesterday the Malaysia government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak tabled the redelineation report produced by the Election Commission (EC).  The last time a redelineation was done was in 2003, where the electoral divisions were used for three general elections, namely GE11 in 2004, GE12 in 2008 and GE13 in 2013.

2. As we are all aware, the tabling of the redelineation report caused chaos in Parliament where as usual the opposition Member of Parliament (MP) protested. However, it is very important to note that the redelineation exercise is embedded in our constitution and there is nothing illegal about it. Article 113(2)(ii) of the Federal Constitution clearly specifies that :

_There shall be an interval of not less than eight years between the date of completion of one review, and the date of commencement of the next review, under this Clause._

3. Since the last review was done in 2003, it is already time for a review of our elections boundaries. Therefore the Election Commission was only following the federal constitution in exercising their rights. The redelineation exercise was done in the spirit of the federal constitution to ease voters to vote. The government has made it very clear that it did not interfere in the redelineation process done by the EC.

4. In fact, even UMNO protested on the redelineation exercise. As an example, Ampang Umno division chief Datuk Ismail Kijo had also opposed EC's plan to delineate two polling districts from the Ampang parliament to the Gombak parliament. Under Part II of the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution, the EC is required to hold inquiries to consider these objections following the mandated redelineation exercise. Thus the redelineation affects all parties not only the opposition. 

5. In addition to the above, i find it very suprising that Pakatan Harapan's top dog Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is making an issue out of this redelineation exercise. Dr. Mahathir conveniently forgot and ignored the fact that in his 22 years as Prime Minister, there were three (3) redelineation exercises conducted which were in year 1984, 1994 and 2003. For him to now criticize this redelination exercise shows the hypocrisy of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

6. Finally, i call on the opposition members to stop politicising this issue and focus on serving the rakyat in their respective constituencies. The redelineation exercise is a part of Malaysia's democracy system and process as per our constituent. The opposition shall not interfere in the roles and responsibility of the EC.

Thank You.