<figure id="attachment_2760632" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2760632" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-2760632 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/9e80b200-bandar-petaling-jaya-wikipedia-pic-130524-1.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2760632" class="wp-caption-text">Selangor has around 2.9 million voters and 22 parliamentary seats, giving the state a ratio of 132,000 voters to every MP. (Wikipedia pic)</figcaption></figure>
PETALING JAYA: The people of Selangor and Terengganu are underrepresented in the Dewan Rakyat, while Sabah and Sarawak are deemed to have too many elected representatives, says the Election Commission (EC).
EC deputy chairman Azmi Sharom said Selangor had around 2.9 million voters and 22 parliamentary seats, while Terengganu had 931,000 voters and eight seats.
This gave Selangor and Terengganu a voter-to-MP ratio of 132,000 and 116,000, respectively, Sinar Harian reported.
On the other hand, Sabah has 1.9 million voters and 25 seats, with a ratio of 76,000 voters per MP, while Sarawak has two million voters and 31 seats, equivalent to one MP for every 65,000 voters.
The national average is 95,000 voters per MP.
&#8220;Selangor is overcrowded. There are so many people, but the number of parliamentary seats are so few in comparison.
&#8220;While Sabah and Sarawak make up 16% of the total Malaysian population, the two states account for 25% of the 222 parliamentary seats,&#8221; said Azmi.
Nevertheless, he said Sabah and Sarawak&#8217;s &#8220;overrepresentation&#8221; in the Dewan Rakyat should not be called into question as it was enshrined in the constitution.
He added that the imbalance was not explicitly against existing laws, with the Federal Constitution simply stating that the &#8220;the number of electors within each constituency ought to be approximately equal&#8221;.
According to the statistics department, Bangi is the most populous parliamentary constituency with an estimated 723,800 residents as of 2024.
This is followed by Kota Raja with 550,600 residents and Subang with 503,300. All three parliamentary seats are in Selangor.
The three least populous parliamentary constituencies are Kanowit (25,300 residents), Lubok Antu (27,400) and Igan (28,000), all of which are in Sarawak.
The Wangsa Maju seat in Kuala Lumpur has the highest population density with 13,587 people per sq km, followed by Pandan in Selangor (11,713) and Jelutong in Penang (11,576).
Azmi said the EC must take into consideration both the demographics and geographical size of a constituency, especially for large interiors with few residents.
&#8220;If we were forced to really make the number of voters in each constituency equal, some seats would be geographically too large, making it unfair for the elected representative,&#8221; he said.
He added however that there was a need for clearer guidelines in terms of redrawing election boundary lines.
He said the commission&#8217;s job was simply to study and redraw the election boundary lines every eight years, and that the final decision to add parliamentary or state seats rested with Parliament and the respective state assemblies.

MatchPoint Times

Selangor, Terengganu underrepresented in Dewan, says EC

EC deputy chief says the imbalance isn’t explicitly against existing laws, and that the commission must also consider the geographical size of a constituency.

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