KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — In its latest redelineation exercise, the Election Commission (EC) is seeking to change the names of 12 parliamentary seats and 34 state constituencies nationwide ahead of the next general elections due in 2018.
In an 18-page notice published in national daily New Straits Times today, the EC said the changes only affected the names of the seats and not the number of seats, whether federal or state, in the country.
The federal seats affected include one Kedah, three seats in Perak, five in Selangor, one in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, one in Negri Sembilan and one in Johor.
The five affected parliamentary seats in Selangor and the sole Kuala Lumpur seat are currently held by the Opposition.
Veteran DAP lawmaker Teresa Kok who has been MP for Seputeh since Election 1999 will see her P.122 constituency renamed to Sri Petaling.
The P.102 seat now known as Serdang and held by DAP’s Ong Kian Ming, will be renamed Bangi while P.106 which is represented by Tony Pua will be changed from Petaling Jaya Utara to Damansara.
The other three Selangor seats affected are held by PKR MPs. The Petaling Jaya Selatan with the P.105 code held by Hee Loy Sian will be renamed just Petaling Jaya.
Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen will see his seat renamed Subang and the current Subang seat held by P. Sivarasa will be renamed Sungai Buloh.
In Perak, the federal constituency of P.068 Beruas, currently held by DAP's Ngeh Koo Ham, was renamed Ayer Tawar.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is the MP for his hometown of Bagan Datok in Perak will see a slight change to the spelling of its name to Bagan Datoh.
The notice also showed that the bulk of the 34 state seats to get new names is in Johor.
Among the state seat changes in Johor include N.07 Bukit Serampang to Bukit Kepong, N.08 Jorak to Bukit Pasir, N.13 Sungai Agong to Simpang Jeram, N.39 Tanjong Surat to Tanjung Surat, N.44 Tanjong Puteri to Larkin among others.
Other states that saw their assembly seats renamed are: Negri Sembilan where N.33 Port Dickson will be known as Sri Bayu; Perak where N.36 Pengakalan Baru and N.57 Sungkai will be called Beruas and Bidor respectively.
The EC notice also said those with any objection to the proposed changes can file their complaint within one month of the notice’s publication.
“Parties who can make representations objecting to the proposed recommendations are the state government, or any local authority whose area is wholly or partly comprised in the constituencies affected by the recommendation, or a body of one hundred or more persons whose names are shown on the current electoral rolls of the constituencies in question,” the notice read.
