MP: Electoral boundary redelineation must be based on one person, one vote, one value principle

KUCHING (July 14): The redelineation of electoral boundaries must be based on the principle of one person, one vote and one value, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.

Quoting Section 2(c) in the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution, he asserted that each constituency should have approximately equal number of electors.

“This is in the Constitution, it’s not just something that you just pick from the sky – it’s constitutionally needed and it has to be approximately equal.

“So, if there’s redrawing of (electoral) lines, I’d like to see that it will be the main consideration, instead of political consideration – because in the previous redelineation, there were inputs or arguments saying that it was drawn out of politics.

“So we don’t want that to happen, because Sarawakians deserve approximately equal voice, whether in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly  (DUN) or in Parliament,” he said during the #kitaadanombor Delineation Campaign forum organised by Rise of Social Efforts (Rose) at a hotel here last night.

Meanwhile, Dewan Negara Senator Robert Lau proposed the restoration of a rule that limits the population difference between constituencies to no more than 15 per cent to ensure that the number of voters in each constituency remains within a reasonable range.

He also emphasises the need to reassess constituency boundaries, particularly concerning the differences between the rural and urban areas.

The forum was held as part of Rose’s #KitaAdaNombor Delineation Campaign roadshow, which was done to raise voters’ awareness on constituency boundaries’ redelineation.

The roadshow was also previously held in Miri.