A need to define numbers precisely to rid Malaysia of malapportionment and gerrymandering.
Electoral reform group Bersih is calling for crucial amendments to the Federal Constitution to address longstanding issues of malapportionment and gerrymandering affecting the makeup of the Dewan Rakyat.
“Malapportionment” refers to the creation of constituencies with sizeable differences in voter-to-representative ratios, while “gerrymandering” involves the manipulation of electoral boundaries.
The NGO’s chairman, Thomas Fann, said there is a need to amend paragraph 2(c) of the 13th schedule to the Federal Constitution.
Last revised in 1973, the paragraph currently reads: “The number of electors within each constituency in a state ought to be approximately equal except that, having regard to the greater difficulty of reaching electors in the country districts and the other disadvantages facing rural constituencies, a measure of weightage for area ought to be given to such constituencies.”
Fann said Bersih believes the matter can be addressed by defining the term “approximately equal” in the paragraph.
“We recommend that the definition of ‘approximately equal’ revert to the original text of the 1957 constitution of plus or minus 15% from the state average to resolve the problem of malapportionment,” Fann told FMT.
As regards gerrymandering, he proposed an amendment to the definition for “maintenance of local ties” in paragraph 2(d) by aligning it with the boundaries of local authorities.
“For the problem of gerrymandering, local ties should mean federal constituencies should not have more than two local authorities,” Fann said.
The Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to redraw electoral boundaries in 2026.
Malaysia is currently grappling with a substantial imbalance in the number of electors across federal and state constituencies, resulting in some constituencies having three times as many voters as others.
This disparity has led to inadequate representation in certain areas, undermining electoral influence.
As an example, the urban-based Bangi parliamentary constituency in Selangor boasts the highest number of voters (311,469), while three rural constituencies in the same state – Sungai Besar, Sabak Bernam and Tanjung Karang – account for a mere 178,185 voters combined.
Meanwhile, Tindak Malaysia director Danesh Prakash Chacko has proposed a pragmatic solution to the problem. He suggested increasing the number of seats in densely populated areas and reducing representation in less populated areas.
“Assuming the number of federal and state constituencies remains the same, the EC can move around the number of constituencies within a state itself.
“If it thinks that there should be more constituencies in Klang Valley, Seberang Perai, Kinta Valley or greater Johor Bahru, it would be able to propose more seats at the expense of lesser seats in the northern part of Selangor, rural part of Penang, Perak or the far eastern sections of Johor respectively,” said Danesh.
He said the primary objective of any redelineation exercise must be to ensure that the principles governing electoral boundaries outlined in the 13th schedule of the constitution were adhered to, with a specific focus on achieving an equitable distribution of electors throughout each state. – FMT