'Clean up electoral rolls before increasing seats'
Published on: Sunday, September 04, 2016
Labuan: Activist Datuk Patrick Sindu said it was normal for state legislative assemblies to pass a bill to increase the number of seats and pave the way for the Election Commission (EC) to conduct an electoral boundary redelineation exercise."But this has to be based not only on the demographic and other changes that have taken place in a constituency but also the reality on the ground."This is especially so in the case of Sabah where the issuance of MyKads to bona-fide applicants has always been questioned.
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"As such, it is imperative that the electoral rolls of constituencies where redelineation is planned to be carried out are cleaned up first. Otherwise, there is the danger of dubious MyKad holders becoming eligible voters," said Patrick.He said Sabah's problem in this area had been well acknowledged when the Technical Committee on Illegal Immigrants was set up and headed by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan. However, the committee's proposals are still unknown, he added. Further to this, he said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission also launched "Easy MyKad" operations last year due to rampant incidents of forged MyKads or unqualified holders of MyKads.
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He said since the Sabah State Legislative Assembly had proposed to increase the number of State seats, the Technical Committee should speed up its proposals as this would help to get rid of dubious names in the electoral rolls.He added that it was surprising the State Assembly during its last sitting had approved the amendments to the constitution to increase the number of seats without debate on a serious matter.
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"If the matter is not cleared, there would be the danger of dubious holders of MyKads becoming further integrated into the local society and enjoying equal rights as locals," said Patrick.He also said a "modest" increase in the number of seats could be acceptable since the last increase was 13 years ago. "But an increase from 60 to 73 seats is more than 10 per cent. Will this increase in the present time of falling government revenue and increasing expenditure impose an additional burden on the administration, considering that a state assemblyman earns about RM8,000 in allowances?"Additional 13 seats would mean extra expenses of more than a million ringgit a year. Wouldn't it be better if the amount is used to provide scholarships and bring minor developments?" asked Patrick.He also pointed out that with the advanced Information Technology (IT), no matter how big a constituency is, unlike before, it is easier now for elected representatives to serve their constituents. "They (elected representatives) can also employ assistants to have their constituents well served." Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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