About 400 voters in Sabah's northern territory have submitted a memorandum to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) asking for a probe into the Election Commission's rejection of their application to reinstate the 'vanished' state seat of Langkon.

They said the EC's decision to reject their application without a public hearing as required under Section 5 of the Election Act 1958 was unconstitutional.

"Our right to equal representation and subsequently, development has been violated," said Patrick Masagal when contacted in Sabah.

He is o­ne of the 364 voters from the Tandek and Matunggong state constituencies who signed the memorandum to Suhakam expressing their disappointment with the EC for not giving them a chance to be heard.

"The EC's recent statement in the media that a public inquiry had been held is totally untrue because we had not been invited to any public hearing related to our appeal," he said, contending that it was a violation of their rights as voters.

The constituency 'disappeared' from the Sabah electoral map just before the 1999 general election after a redelineation exercise in 1994, and absorbed by Matunggong and Tandek, under the Bandau parliamentary seat.

The EC is required to put up the proposed redelineation for two public displays, with appeals and feedback allowed from the respective district councils, state government, political parties and voter groups of more than 100 persons.

Hearing denied

Contacted today, Dr Maximus J O­ngkili, who was the last assemblyperson before the seat 'vanished', said the group of voters submitted the memorandum to express their unhappiness with the EC's decision to reject their appeal for the reinstatement of Langkon.

"They want a public hearing and hoped that Suhakam would be able to help achieve that.

"The concern is over the right to equal representation," said Maximus, who is also Parti Bersatu Sabah deputy president.

He said that since they did not wish to go through any political party, he submitted the memorandum to Suhakam o­n their behalf as MP for Bandau.

In the memorandum, the voters accused the EC of being unfair in approving six more state seats in five years for the Tawau/Semporna east-coast area (two in 1999 and another four recently).

"The northern territory of Kota Belud/Kota Marudu/Kudat has not been given a single seat in the last 25 years. In fact, the number of seats has been reduced," he exclaimed.

Patrick said the latest figures show that there are more than 18,000 voters registered in Tandek, and given its land area as well as Matunggong, which has more than 13,000 voters, it was o­nly logical to reinstate Langkon.

Patrick and another complainant, Madjin Maginda, had sent appeal letters to the EC office in Kota Kinabalu o­n Jan 22 and the EC headquarters in Putrajaya last Sept 5.

Illogical decision

The voters said Langkon was an economically-depressed area and had neither an administrative center nor a state constituency of its own, despite having a considerably bigger population compared to neighbouring areas.

"The reinstatement of Langkon would certainly improve the quality and effectiveness of public services to the constituents who are now lagging behind in terms of development," Patrick said.

When asked to comment o­n the matter last week, Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman had said that there was no infringement of human rights because the right to vote had not been affected.

However, the human rights watchdog's complaints and inquiry working group chairperson Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan said earlier this week that the matter would be studied further.

Copies of the memorandum have also been sent to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Sabah Chief Minister and state Barisan Nasional chief Chong Kah Kiat and EC secretary Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

All the top EC officials were unavailable for comments as they are o­n leave until next week.

The present redelineation exercise has proposed 12 extra state and five parliamentary seats in Sabah, which currently has 48 and 20 respectively.

The new state seats are Karambunai, Luyang, Kapayan, Membakut, Paginatan, Gum-Gum, Tungku, Bugaya, Apas and Tanjung Batu, while the parliamentary seats are Kota Kinabalu, Kimanis, Pensiangan, Batu Sapi and Kalabakan.