KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — The Election Commission's (EC) new electoral boundaries and shifting around of voters will help Barisan Nasional (BN) take seven state seats away from Pakatan Harapan and PAS in the 14th general elections (GE14), a report predicted.

The prediction that federal Opposition would lose seven seats in Selangor where they lead the state administration is based on EC's final redelineation report that was made public today, news portal Malaysiakini reported.

"The bulk of the changes took place in Selangor which would see BN capturing seven state seats from Pakatan Harapan and PAS by virtue of the redrawn borders,” Malaysiakini said in a report today.

According to the report, the EC had in Selangor shifted pro-BN polling districts from many seats which are strongholds of the federal opposition and placed them instead into marginal seats that were previously won by federal opposition parties with a small majority.

"The biggest winners after the redelineation exercise are BN and DAP, while the biggest losers would be PKR, PAS and its splinter Amanah,” it said.

"This is owing to the clustering of pro-opposition polling districts into DAP-held constituencies and the transfer of pro-BN polling districts to marginal seats, most of which are held by PKR, DAP and Amanah,” it said.

This means that PKR is expected to lose the three state seats of Ijok, Pelabuhan Klang and Sementa in Selangor, while former ally PAS would stand to lose four state seats of Morib, Selat Klang, Sijangkang and Dusun Tua.

In the 13th general election (GE13) in 2013, the federal opposition maintained control of Selangor for the second term with its win of 44 state seats against the BN's 12 seat haul.

For Selangor, a simple majority of at least 29 seats is required to take over the state administration.

Based on Malaysiakini's prediction, BN is expected to improve on its 2013 election results of 12 seats to 19 seats in GE14. But the BN would still have to win an additional 10 state seats in Selangor to wrest control from the federal opposition.

Malaysiakini further suggested that the new voting boundaries could result in a possible hung Selangor state assembly, which happens when there is no political party or coalition that has secured enough seats for a simple majority.

The report said that this was due to the different political scenario now, as compared to previously when PAS ― which is currently part of the Selangor state government ― was still part of Pakatan Harapan's predecessor Pakatan Rakyat.

PAS has chosen to strike out on its own with other parties, and is expected to go up against both BN and Pakatan Harapan.

While PH will seek to have its component party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) counter the loss of voters supporting its former ally PAS, a failure by PPBM supporters to help PH win in its seats could make a hung Selangor state assembly a "real possibility”, Malaysiakini suggested.

The EC's final redelineation report which was tabled today is virtually guaranteed to be approved by Parliament, as only a single majority is required as the EC did not push for the number of seats to be increased.

When tabling the EC's final redelineation report, the prime minister said the government had reviewed the report's recommendations but was not suggesting any amendments as the redelineation process was fully carried out according to the Federal Constitution.

In the Dewan Rakyat or the lower house of Parliament, BN lawmakers exceeds the simple majority of 112 required. BN had won 133 of the 222 federal seats in GE13, against 89 by the federal Opposition.