The Cabinet at its weekly meeting tomorrow should decide that the Prime Minister should not table the Election Commission’s unconstitutional Constituency Redelineation Report in Parliament or ask for a vote until the outcome of judicial challenges that Election Commission had not fully complied with constitutional requirements.
This follows the announcement by Bersih Acting Chairman Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari that several voters in Selangor who were denied the right to be heard by the Election Commission during the second public enquiry had filed actions in court.
It is indeed most shocking and outrageous that the Election Commission has rushed to present the Constituency Redelineation Report to the Prime Minister for “lightning” approval by the current meeting of the Dewan Rakyat although the Election Commission had not complied with the constitutional requirements in the review of delimitation of constituencies, as the Election Commisison had not completed the second local enquiry for Selangor with over 200 voters in Selangor who had filed objections who have yet to be heard.
If the Election Commission is to fully comply with constitutional requirements, the new redelineation of constituencies will not be in time to be used for the 14th General Elections if Parliament is to be dissolved in the next month or so.
The priority of the Election Commission is to comply with the Constitutional requirements and mandate and not to meet the election timetable of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The Election Commission has acted unconstitutionally. The question is whether the Prime Minister and the Cabinet would follow suit and also act unconstitutionally in presenting the Election Commission’s unconstitutional Constituency Redelineation Report to Parliament and to ask for a vote of approval in the current meeting of Parliament.
I call on Najib to show that he upholds the Constitution, and would not be a party to any violation of the Constitution, and that if he wants to dissolve Parliament and hold the 14th General Elections within the next 65 days, the present constituency redelineation would be used instead.
(Media Statement in Parliament on Tuesday, 13th March 2018)