After protests, EC seeks change for 5 parliament seats, down from 18

The Election Commission (EC) proposed electoral boundary changes for Selangor will involve only five parliamentary constituencies, down from 18 proposed previously.

The five are Tanjong Karang, Kuala Selangor, Gombak, Ampang, and Pandan.

This was based on the second redelineation proposal for the state which was put on public display today.

EC's first proposal had suggested boundary changes for Selayang, Hulu Langat, Bangi, Puchong, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya Selatan, Petaling Jaya Utara, Subang, Shah Alam, Kapar, Klang, Kota Raja, and Kuala Langat, in addition to the five constituencies.

In addition, the EC retained its proposal to rename the parliamentary constituency of Serdang to Bangi, while dropping proposals to rename to four other parliamentary constituencies.

While the first proposal had proposed the renaming of six Selangor legislative assembly seats, the second proposal had suggested only four: Batu Caves (to be renamed Sungai Tua), Chempaka (Pandan Indah), Bangi (Sungai Ramal), and Teluk Datuk (Banting).

Among others, the proposal would mean that Petaling Jaya Utara and Petaling Jaya Selatan’s boundaries would remain status quo, instead of having parts of Petaling Jaya Utara and the Bukit Lanjan state constituency being redrawn into a new parliamentary constituency Damansara.

The Kota Alam Shah state constituency would still contain the Alam Shah royal palace - from which it derived its name - within its boundaries, unlike the previous proposal where Kota Alam Shah does not overlap with its present boundaries at all.

The new proposal is currently on public display until Feb 14, during which affected groups of 100 voters, local governments, and the state government may submit objections to the EC.

The Federal Constitution requires that the EC hold the second and last round of local enquiries to hear these objections before submitting its recommendations to the prime minister, who would table the recommendation for parliamentary approval.

The first round of public enquiries for Selangor, which was for the EC's first proposal, was conducted from Dec 27 last year to Jan 9 this year, after being delayed for about a year due to court proceedings initiated by the Selangor government.

The Selangor government had previously claimed that the first proposal was unconstitutional.- Mkini