A month ahead of elections in all public universities, Universiti Malaya (UM) has introduced a system that delineates the single campus-wide nine-member constituency into five separate zones.

Prof Rohana Yusof, the deputy vice-chancellor in charge of student affairs and alumni, announced the changes at a briefing on Monday.

The pro-Mahasiswa (ProM) group has denounced the new system, claiming this to be an underhanded tactic that will help rivals pro-Aspirasi (ProA) to capture a key battlefield.

This could also lead to the impression that the students are supportive of the government, as it is generally viewed that the outcome of campus elections would mirror that of a general election.

UM, the nation’s oldest university, had a two-tier election system which allowed students to vote for nine contestants across campus. Those studying at each of the 17 faculties could also elect two representatives.

Under the new system, students can only vote for one or two representatives in their respective zones. The two-member faculty-level seats remain unchanged.

NONE Student representative council treasurer Kelvin Tee (right in photo) , who was at the briefing, said the change that will have the greatest impact will be the division of the campus into five zones, each covering several faculties.

If compared to the national election system, a campus zone is equivalent to a parliamentary seat, while a faculty-level zone is equivalent to a state seat.

In a statement issued yesterday, ProM said the nine campus-level student representatives would be degraded to faculty-level representatives under the new system, and will be deprived of their status in representing the entire student body.

More importantly, the group claimed that the new system is a form of gerrymandering to reduce its influence.

ProM has won at least eight out of the nine campus-level seats in the last three polls, with a clean sweep in last year's election in UM.

It recaptured the 43-member student representatives council last year, defeating ProA by a majority of seven seats.

The new system will merge two strongholds of ProM - the Academy of Islamic Studies and Academy of Malay Studies - which has contributed at least 2,000 votes to its nine candidates in previous polls. Under the new system, these faculties will be turned into a two-candidate zone.

“This will definitely reduce our chances in defending (seats in) the student representatives council," ProM said in the statement.

Impact on campaign, too

Doing away with the campus-level constituency will also change the way the candidates conduct their election campaign, said ProM.

NONE They will be forced to focus on ‘minor’ faculty issues like infrastructure and allocations for activities, instead of being able to raise national issues such as amendments to the Universities and University Colleges Act.

ProM said the university authorities did not consult the student representatives council about the changes, prior to these being announced.

Although the system was introduced in the name of equal representation, ProM pointed out that the authorities have not disclosed the number of voters and their ethnic composition in each zone.

The group has pledged mobilise students to oppose the system, which it described as ‘unfair’.