Old politics must bow out to make new polls borders work

The nature of the complaints that have been aired over the Election Commission’s (EC) redelineation of constituencies in Sarawak point to a problematic time ahead for the country.

Already, Sarawak PKR has filed an application, due to be heard on February 2, for a judicial review to declare the entire exercise unconstitutional. Briefly, the applicants faulted the commission for a “serious and considerable” lack of detailed particulars of the proposed recommendations and the draft constituency plan, insufficient notice of the proposals to the affected constituencies, unlawfully changing a parliamentary constituency, failing to display the electoral roll of the affected voters and "clear and obvious evidence of malapportionment and gerrymandering".

The party’s views echo the concerns over the exercise that have been highlighted by Bersih 2.0, the election watchdog coalition at the forefront of the campaign for clean and fair elections since 2006. There are five key constitutional provisions that must be observed in a redelineation exercise, the group has pointed out.

Two of these relate to the factors that must be considered when re-drawing the constituency boundaries. Firstly, topography and population distribution should be followed, and secondly, voters should not have to travel excessively to cast their ballots, there must be proportionality in the size of the seats and the collective voice of communities must not be fragmented.

Three other provisions relate to notification of the voters about the changes, where the effect of the proposals must be made known to the affected constituents, the EC’s duty to enable voters to review the proposals and finally, the voters’ role in evaluating the proposals and making representations at hearings organised by the commission.

It is evident that these constitutional provisions are designed to safeguard democratic principles –such as “one person, one vote” – that empower the individual voter’s choices at the ballot box. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that the redelineation of constituencies is in tune with the spirit of the democratic process.

Bersih 2.0 has raised a red flag over at least a dozen concerns about the commission’s gazetted notice and displays, in relation to the five constitutional provisions outlined earlier.

These issues, which include a failure to describe the effects of the redelineation on the affected voters, scarcity of pertinent information in numerous areas and excessive variations in the sizes of constituencies, to name just three of them, demonstrate that the redelineation exercise has been transformed into an operation that is nowhere near to its intended purpose under the constitution.

In view of this situation, it is crucial to recognise that the electoral process may become increasingly untenable unless the Sarawak exercise is rectified before it is undertaken in the rest of the states. As things stand, the re-delineation exercise is at the very least likely to become entangled in a series of court actions that could paralyse elections for an indefinite period.

It is obvious that the root of the problem lies in the ground shift in voters’ preferences that has occurred since the landmark 12th general election in 2008. A second general election since that event has passed in 2013, laying to rest any doubts that the Malaysian electorate is determined to move into a new era of greater transparency, accountability and democratic freedoms.

However, the EC’s actions demonstrate that despite the shift in public sentiment, the political establishment is unable to accept that a large majority of Malaysian voters have evolved beyond the old model of a patriarchal benefactor dispensing the benefits of development on a grateful populace in exchange for their loyalty.

Therefore, there is no point really in the EC’s attempt to preserve the status quo by sticking to its ‘business as usual’ approach. It simply won’t go very far.

What is needed today to move beyond this crisis of confidence in the EC and other public institutions is to start on a fresh page, rebuilding them to function in an open, responsive system. Moreover, for these institutions to regain their relevance in the new political reality, their vision and mission frameworks must be revisited to release them from the doctrine of race and religion that has trapped the country in a blind alley.

Clinging on to the status quo will only result in a clash with the new movement in society, preventing meaningful progress until the old order is ready to respond to the clamour for a better future for all.

To usher in the new order without disruption, the political establishment will need reassurance that a changing of the guard need not result in a purge among the previous incumbents. How this can happen while ensuring that justice is done and the people’s best interests upheld needs to be explored pragmatically.

So, before a meaningful review of the election boundaries can be feasible, we may first need to work on national reconciliation between a political order that has seen better days and a new vanguard that can forge a diverse, modern nation at peace with itself. – January 31, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.