Report: Kulasegaran tells Muhyiddin ‘not to fret’ over possible redelineation
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran has reportedly told Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to not be wary of a possible redelineation exercise to increase the number of federal seats from 222 to 300.
Malaysiakini reported the DAP vice-chairman as saying that any attempts to stall the amendments would be contrary to the principles of democracy.
“Muhyiddin need not fret. This is a democratic process.
“Let the Election Commission (EC) do its job. Especially since our country (last) added new parliamentary seats in 2008,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal.
Kulasegaran, who is a former human resources minister, said that some current seats are malapportioned and that PN’s opposition to the addition of new seats did not make sense.
“For example, the number of voters in the Putrajaya constituency is 42,881, while in Bangi, it has already reached 311,469.
“This is clearly unfair and does not reflect the principle of fair representation in voting; ‘one person, one vote’,” he said.
On Saturday, Muhyiddin reportedly said it is crucial for PN to secure the Pulai perliamentary seat in the by-election on Saturday in order to deny the ruling coalition in the federal government a two-thirds majority.
He cited concerns about a possible redelineation exercise to increase the number of federal seats from 222 to 300.
At present, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government has the support of 148 federal lawmakers, which is just slightly more than a two-thirds majority.
The Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections are being called due to the unexpected vacancy of the seats following the death of incumbent, Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who was also the minister of domestic trade and cost of living, on July 23.
The Election Commission (EC) set the by-elections for the two seats to be held simultaneously, with early voting on September 5 and polling day on September 9.
