Sunday 26 May 2013

REDELINEATION ERODE SABAH RIGHTS?






KOTA KINABALU: The UK-based Borneo Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) is in full support of Upko's stance that the proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries must strictly adhere to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement.

The Upko Kota Belud Deputy Chief, Ewon Benedick, had stated argued that Sabah and Sarawak are not ready for the one-vote-one-value voting system as both states will see its representation in Parliament reduced to only 15% from the present 25% or 56 of the total 222 seats.

“We have 981,814 voters in Sabah and 1,083,972 voters in Sarawak. That makes 15 per cent of the total 13,268,007 voters in Malaysia. If we adopt the one-vote-one-value system, then the people of Sabah and Sarawak must be ready to accept its consequences,” said Ewon.

BoPi MaFo's President, Daniel John Jambun warned in a statement here that the redelineation exercise can be implemented to further erode Sabah and Sarawak's position as equal partners in the Federation.

"Sabahans are very worried that after this exercise Sabah and Sarawak will lose more rights and voice in Parliament," Jambun said. "This is because the exercise can be another federal manipulation with gerrymandering after which Sabah and Sarawak will lose more leverage as Borneo states."

He said that consistent with the spirit of the 20 Points, both states should have 34% of the parliamentary seats, and it is for this reason that  Sabah and Sarawak must never surrender any seat -- parliament or state seat -- to any Malayan-based parties, but defend it by all means.

"Local opposition based party must unite and fight for their rights consistent with the Malaysia Agreement, the 20 Points, the IGC Report and the Oath Stone, both in letter and spirit. Allowing any seats to be contested by KL parties tantamount to surrendering the rights of the Bornean states.

"But as it is now, most of these seats have been robbed by KL-based parties -- Umno, MCA, and Gerakan from BN, and DAP and PKR from PR," he said. "The usual excuse is that the candidates of these parties are still from Sabah, but we can't deny the fact that the parliamentarians who have won on these parties' tickets are subservient to their Peninsular parties.

"We have to understand that the very purpose of the 34% seats that Sabah and Sarawak have is not only to represent the two states but to enable us to veto any negative laws that Kuala Lumpur may decide to impose on the Borneo states.

"Any seat transferred to a Peninsula-based party will be our serious loss because the parliamentarians will not be able to speak firmly for Sabah, simply because they have to toe the line with their Malayan political bosses.

"What we are worried about is that the federal government may be ignorant about Sabah rights as promised as special arrangements in the many documents such as the Malaysia Agreement the 20 Points, the Cobbold Commission Report and even the Oath Stone,"Jambun said. "This worry is strongly founded by the fact the during the recent campaign, the Prime Minister was making statements betraying his ignorance of Sabah history and Sabah rights.

"For example he, just like the PKR supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, didn't know that Sabah's autonomy was a special arrangement promised before the formation of Malaysia. If the federal leaders are still this ignorant, or feigning ignorance, then we are bound to lose a lot more with this redelineation exercise.

"There is also the real danger that the Barisan Nasional will use this exercise to strengthen its grip on the two states, which it considers to be its fixed deposits. I commend Upko for its strong stance, but it should be consistently fighting for Sabah rights from now on. It should also ask itself up to what limit it will fight for Sabah rights. Will Upko be daring enough to leave BN if the coming redelinenation exercise will not adhere to the spirit of the Malaysia agreement?" Jambun asked.

16 comments:

  1. The redelineation of parliamentary constituencies must take into account and restore constitutional safeguards for both Sarawak and Sabah to ensure that parliamentary seats for Malaya should not be more than 65 per cent as agreed upon during the outset of the formation of Malaysia, said Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

    He said the special position of Sarawak and Sabah in the formation of Malaysia had resulted in constitutional safeguards to ensure the rights of both states were not diluted or removed over time by federal lawmakers.


    He was commenting on the proposed redelineation exercise to be undertaken by the Election Commission (EC) soon.

    Jeffrey added that one of the reasons for Sarawak and Sabah to agree to form Malaysia was the need for development.

    Jeffrey pointed out that the EC must also involve both state governments in the proposed redelineation exercise as envisaged and agreed upon by the founding fathers of the Federation of Malaysia as provided for in paragraph 30(1) of the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report which states that: the Federal Constitution should provide that certain provisions relating to the Borneo states should not be amended or repealed without the concurrence of the government of the state concerned.

    These provisions relate to immigration, citizenship, representation in the Federal Parliament and the High Court of the Borneo states.

    He said it also served as a golden opportunity for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to put his words into action with regards to honouring the autonomy of the two states and the latter (Pakatan), whose Buku Jingga and the Kuching Declaration, had promised to honour and respect the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) akan memulakan kajian semula
    persempadanan pilihan raya di negara ini menjelang akhir tahun ini dan
    memberi jaminan kepada orang ramai akan ia akan dijalankan dengan penuh
    telus.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Timbalan Pengerusi SPR Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar berkata pihaknya akan
    memaparkan draf persempadanan semula kepada orang ramai untuk pengundi
    berdaftar, kerajaan negeri dan pihak berkuasa tempatan untuk
    mengemukakan pandangan dan bantahan mereka sebelum menyerahkan laporan
    akhir kepada Dewan Rakyat untuk kelulusan.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Perkara ini akan dijalankan dengan penuh ketelusan sebelum dibawa ke
    Parlimen untuk dibahaskan, jadi tidak ada persoalan pihak kita cuba
    untuk menyembunyikan apa-apa daripada orang ramai," kata Wan Ahmad
    ketika dihubungi.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beliau berkata mana-mana cadangan persempadanan semula sempadan kawasan
    pilihan raya memerlukan kelulusan majoriti mudah di 222 kerusi Dewan
    Rakyat.
    Pembentukan mana-mana kawasan pilihan raya baru memerlukan sokongan dua pertiga.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ditanya sama ada kawasan pilihan raya baru akan diwujudkan, beliau
    berkata: "Secara logiknya, perlu ada lebih banyak kerusi kerana terdapat
    begitu ramai pengundi baru sejak pilihan raya umum ke-12."

    ReplyDelete
  7. Menurut Perlembagaan Persekutuan Perkara 113 (2)(ii) persempadanan
    semula kawasan pilihan raya boleh dibuat dalam tempoh tidak kurang
    daripada lapan tahun dan tidak lebih daripada 10 tahun daripada siapnya
    kajian sebelumnya.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wan Ahmad berkata Perlembagaan Persekutuan memberi maksimum dua tahun bagi suruhanjaya itu untuk melengkapkan kajian.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Persempadanan semula terakhir dilakukan adalah pada 2003 dan
    persempadanan semula sepatutnya dibuat pada 2011 tetapi SPR telah
    menangguhkannya sehingga pilihan raya umum ke-13 selesai.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Menjawab dakwaan bahawa SPR akan cuba menggerimander kawasan pilihan
    raya agar ia memihak kepada Barisan Nasional, Wan Ahmad berkata: "Ramai
    orang yang tidak tahu bagaimana kajian dijalankan dan hanya percaya
    dengan beberapa parti politik yang menuduh kami tidak menjalankan tugas
    mengikut undang-undang."

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mengenai kenapa kawasan bandar kecil mempunyai lebih ramai pengundi
    daripada kerusi luar bandar yang besar, Wan Ahmad berkata ia adalah
    untuk memastikan bahawa semua pengundi di kawasan separa bandar dan luar
    bandar bandar mempunyai akses yang munasabah terhadap perkhidmatan oleh
    wakil-wakil rakyat mereka dan majlis-majlis tempatan.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sebagai contoh, Wan Ahmad berkata kawasan Parlimen Puchong mempunyai
    107,010 pengundi tetapi penduduk dapat menikmati akses yang baik kepada
    perkhidmatan dan wakil rakyat boleh bergerak di seluruh kawasan pilihan
    raya dalam tempoh beberapa jam dengan kenderaan.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kawasan pilihan raya di Parlimen Silam di Sabah, dari sisi lain pula
    hanya mempunyai 51,662 pengundi tetapi kawasannya adalah jauh dan besar
    seperti Negeri Sembilan dan Melaka yang digabungkan, katanya.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bagi memastikan kewajaran pengundi yang sama, kita perlu untuk
    memperluaskan sempadan Silam lebih jauh dan ini tidak adil kepada
    pengundi kerana ia akan membuatkan lebih sukar bagi mereka untuk
    mendapatkan perkhidmatan daripada wakil-wakil rakyat dan majlis
    tempatan," kata Wan Ahmad.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mengenai kenapa Putrajaya hanya mempunyai 15,791 pengundi dan dianggap
    sebagai kawasan Parlimen tunggal manakala kawasan sekitarnya mempunyai
    lebih pengundi, Wan Ahmad berkata: "Ini adalah kerana kawasan Putrajaya
    telah ditubuhkan bukan oleh perangkaan sempadan semula tetapi oleh Akta
    Parlimen berikutan penubuhan pusat pentadbiran.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oleh itu, adalah tidak mungkin untuk menggabungkan Putrajaya dengan mana-mana kawasan Parlimen jiran."
    Sementara
    itu, Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berkata, ahli Parlimen
    Pakatan Rakyat tidak akan menyokong perangkaan semula sempadan pilihan
    raya walaupun majoriti dua pertiga tidak diperlukan untuk menjalankannya
    (melainkan jika ia melibatkan penciptaan kawasan baru).

    ReplyDelete