A Pakatan Rakyat committee has expressed support for the formation of an agency similar to the UK Boundary Delimitation Commission to supervise redelineation exercises in Malaysia.

In a statement, the Committee on Constituency Delimitation Exercise said this is required because the Election Commission (EC) is “lacking integrity and independence”.

The statement was signed by members of parliament Hatta Ramli (PAS-Kuala Krai, right ), Mansor Othman (PKR-Nibong Tebal) and Ong Kian Ming (DAP-Serdang).

They were commenting on a key recommendation yesterday by the People's Tribunal on the 13th general election, which had highlighted issues of gerrymandering and malapportionment in delimiting electoral boundaries.

“The fact that former EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman had admitted that he conducted previous ... exercises to maintain Malay power, rather than to keep to constitutional principles, has confirmed that the EC cannot be relied upon to conduct an impartial and fair delimitation exercise,” they said.

“As such we call upon the federal government to establish an independent federal authority, similar to the Boundary Delimitation Commission in the UK, to carry out the upcoming delimitation exercise in an impartial and independent manner.”

They noted that the Parliament Select Committee on Electoral Reform has recommended that the functions of the EC be divided - to conduct elections, register voters and carry out delimitation exercises.

The committee said this would be an opportune time for the government to implement the recommendation, as a constituency delimitation exercise is set to begin this month. The last was carried out in 2004.

The upcoming exercise promises to be the most contentious in Malaysian history.

Any increase in the number of seats will require an amendment to Article 46 of the federal constitution, as well as amendment of the respective state constitutions.

However, the federal ruling coalition BN has lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament, while Selangor, Kelantan and Penang are in Pakatan hands.

“An increase in seats in Terengganu, Kedah, Perak and Negri Sembilan would also require constitutional amendments. The consent of Pakatan representatives will be necessary since they make up more than one-third of the respective state assemblies,” the committee noted.

“If the BN is sincere about passing a constituency delimitation exercise that is impartial and fair, it should establish an independent (authority for this), rather than rely on the current EC which is biased.”