KUALA LUMPUR,  March 28 Mac — The Election Commission reached out to all stakeholders to participate in its review of electoral boundaries, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said that since the commission started the exercise on Sept 15, 2016, various accusations were hurled against the EC and not only that, there were parties who dragged the EC to court.

"The EC provided a platform for all quarters to voice out objections on any of its recommendations which were put on display as required under Section of Schedule 13 of the Federal Constitution.

"Nevertheless, the reality is that the court decisions favoured the EC, proving that the EC had discharged its duties based on the principles stated in the Federal Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land,” he said when winding up debate on the  motion on the review of electoral boundaries in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The motion was earlier tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. 

Ahmad Zahid said during the period of displays of the review the first and second time, the EC received 1,685 representations from state governments, local authorities or the category of 100 or more voters in a particular constituency.

"Not only that, EC officers went down to the ground in the interiors to get feedback from the opposition,” he said.

He said overall, the EC considered all objections including 600 or 36 per cent of representations via local inquiries.

"In this matter, the EC made the decision that 1,041 or 62 per cent of representations in support were to be accepted for consideration, 545 or 32 per cent of the representations rejected for consideration while 99 or  six per cent (of representations) were accepted in part or rejected,” he said.

According to him, overall, the EC spent RM5.4 million in conducting the exercise.