PETALING JAYA, Oct 12 ― The Election Commission's proposed redelineation could shift the voter balance in 16 Selangor state constituencies to Barisan Nasional's advantage, DAP's Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming said today.
Speaking during a forum on the proposed exercise here today, Ong claimed that based on his own research, the redelineation meant BN would be better poised to regain the state it lost in Election 2008.
He said that seven seats currently held by the federal opposition could switch to BN, while six seats considered as the opposition's safe seats could become marginal.
Two more state seats, which are closely contested, will become “even more marginal”, he said.
“In total, 16 state seats will be affected. If the EC shows this redelineation to BN, BN will likely say this is a good job,” he said.
Ong made the calculations by mapping results of polling districts from Election 2013 in the state with current proposed redrawing of electoral boundaries in the state.
“This is assuming the voting patterns remain the same as in 2013, and there are straight fights,” he said.
In the last general election, the then-Pakatan Rakyat pact won 44 out of the 56 state seats in Selangor, to enable them to comprehensively retain the state administration.
Among the state seats that Ong said would switch to BN are Ijok, Selat Kelang, Pelabuhan Klang, Sementa, Sijangkang, and Morib.
The EC's redelineation proposal is currently being on public display before it is brought to parliament.
However, the EC will have conduct hearings if they receive objections against the new boundaries.
The opposition, civil society and also BN component parties such as Gerakan had objected to the new boundaries, which some claim worsens electoral malapportionment.
