A cabinet minister today defended the redelineation exercise in Sarawak conducted by the Election Commission (EC), describing it as 'constitutional'.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim said this despite a landmark decision by the Kuching High Court which nullified the exercise.

EC will normally complete the review work before tabling it at the Parliament for approval, he said.

 

But for the Sarawak redelineation exercise, Shahidan ( photo ) said, it would be first tabled at the state assembly before a review.

"Either way is allowed in the constitution," he told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby.

Due to the decision by the Kuching High Court on May 15, the EC need to redo its redelineation plan.

The decision may hamper the Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem's plan to seek an early mandate following his appointment last year. The state must hold elections before the middle of next year.

AGC will decide whether to appeal

At present, Sarawak has 71 state seats and the redelineation exercise by EC seeks to increase it to 82 - an additional 11 - for the state legislative assembly.

"We wait for the report by Attorney-General Chambers. They will decide whether to appeal," Shahidan said, adding that the court decision would not impact EC's redelineation exercise nationwide.

The Arau MP was also asked about the statement by veteran lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah ( photo ) who said that Najib's contradictory reply on 1MDB savings in a Singapore bank may expose him to contempt proceedings in Parliament.

"Let the speaker answer this (whether to cite Najib for contempt proceedings).

"I am just a minister who takes care of the welfare of MPs and reporters," he said.

On May 19, the finance ministry had corrected its parliamentary written reply in March 10 that said the US$1.1 billion (RM3.97 billion) transferred by 1MDB from Cayman Islands to Singapore was in cash.

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