KUALA LUMPUR: It is impossible for the government to conduct a redelineation of constituencies before the next general election, unless the Federal Constitution is amended, according to Mohamed Hanipa Maidin.
The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said the constitution provides that a redelineation can only be conducted if there was a change in the composition of the Dewan Rakyat, or after eight years from when the previous exercise was completed.
He noted that based on the last redelineation of boundaries, the next review is scheduled to take place in the year 2026, 2025 and 2023 for the peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak, respectively, when their eight-year intervals are over.
“If a redelineation was to be done before the next election that is set to take place in 2023, the government needs to amend Article 133 of the constitution relating to the eight-year interval,” he told the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.
“Another option is to amend Article 46 (which states that the Dewan Rakyat shall consist of 222 elected members).”
Mohamed Hanipa added that these amendments would also require a two-third majority of the lower house, which the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government does not enjoy.
He was replying to a question from Wong Kah Woh (PH-Ipoh Timur) on whether the government intends to revamp the existing electoral system and implement a redelineation of existing electoral boundaries.
Mohamed Hanipa said the delimitation of constituencies was also not dependent solely on the number of voters there, but also took into account special circumstances, including geographical and topographical factors, as well as demographics.
He said this was enshrined in the thirteenth schedule of the Federal Constitution.
On a supplementary question by Wong whether the government plans to amend the schedule to reduce the disparity in the number of voters for separate constituencies, Mohamed Hanipa said there was no plan at the moment.
