Page 237 - Towards_a_New_Malaysia_The_2018_Election_and_Its_6146371_(z-lib.org)

222 Wong Chin Huat

Unlike malapportionment, gerrymandering cannot be mathematically
identi ed, as there is no universal rule on how constituency boundaries
should be drawn. Prevention of gerrymandering then rests on how e ectively
criteria and constraints tie the hands of gerrymanderers. Some systems place
restrictions on the shape of constituencies, mandating that they be contiguous
and compact. Others underline the importance of common interests;
administrative, sociocultural, and economic linkages; or natural boundaries—
but these systems cannot perfectly rule out gerrymandering if proposed
boundaries satisfy imposed criteria.
Section 2(d) of the irteenth Schedule of Malaysia’s Constitution calls for
‘regard’ for ‘the inconveniences attendant on alterations of constituencies and
to the maintenance of local ties’, without further de ning ‘inconveniences’
or ‘local ties’. e EC o cially acknowledges administrative, infrastructural,
and natural boundaries as legitimate constraints but has had no qualms about
ignoring them. Despite the abrogation of local elections since 1965, local
councils’ policies colour local life and shape ‘communities of interests’. Logically,
single-council constituencies are representationally and administratively
superior to constituencies that span across local authorities, but the EC has
arbitrarily carved out many parliamentary and state constituencies containing
fragments of municipalities and districts. e worst case is the parliamentary
constituency of Sungai Buloh, Selangor, which spans across four local
authorities: Selayang, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, and Kuala Selangor.
Gerrymandering renders boundaries often arbitrary even for constituencies
carved out from a single local council. Perak’s Manjung municipal council
area was divided into two parliamentary constituencies: Lumut and Beruas.
In 2013, the opposition won Beruas with a margin of 5,057 votes and Lumut
with 8,168 votes. Within Lumut, the opposition carried a state constituency,
Sitiawan, with a whopping 12,220-vote margin. e township of Sitiawan
is about 30 minutes east of Lumut town and 45 minutes south of Beruas
town. In term of socioeconomic ties, Sitiawan is closer to coastal Lumut
than to inland Beruas. e latest delimitation exercise, however, moved
Sitiawan (renamed Astaka, with slightly revised boundaries) from Lumut
to Beruas (Map 11.1). Unmistakably, the EC hoped to crack Lumut and
to pack Beruas, making it a PH super-stronghold. anks to the anti-BN
electoral surge, PH carried Beruas with a margin of 27,954 votes (greater
than the 17,000-lead gerrymandering granted), and managed to narrowly
retain Lumut with a margin of 400 (overturning the 4,000-vote de cit
gerrymandering caused).

This content downloaded from 139.80.253.0 on Fri, 06 Nov 2020 04:22:39 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms