Penang submits objections to redelineation exercise

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government has submitted its objections against the Election Commission's (EC) redelineation proposal today, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (pix).
In a press conference at his office in Komtar here, Lim said the EC's redelineation proposal was not done in accordance to the Federal Constitution.
"The proposed redelineation does not follow Schedule 13 of the Federal Constitution which states that each constituency in each state must have about the same number of voters, except in cases where the voters have difficulties in going to their voting district.
"Paya Terubong is the largest seat with 41,707 voters while Air Putih had more than 1,000 voters removed in the proposed redelineation, leaving it with only 12,752 voters.
"It means there is a difference between both state constituencies by 3.27 times. In short, one Paya Terubong seat can make up more than three seats," he told reporters.
Lim said the proposed redelineation should try to balance the number of voters between constituencies.
He said a new three-person committee, consisting of Tanjung MP Ng Wei Aik, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim and Parit Buntar MP Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, and state exco Jagdeep Singh Deo as coordinator will study the proposed redelineation.
"The total objections has been sent to the EC for three parliamentary constituencies which are Bukit Mertajam, Bukit Bendera and Bukit Gelugor and five state constituencies which are Air Putih, Sungai Pinang, Seri Delima, Air Itam and Paya Terubong," he said.