COMMENT The much-talked-about delimitation has to be handled with care to avoid another misunderstanding that the Election Commissions (EC) is in cahoots with the ruling regime.

The impression which has led to several Bersih rallies is also not without grounds, because the EC has often evaded public scrutiny, and when organisations such as Tindak Malaysia and the Bersih 2.0 steering committee attempted to engage the EC, its commissioners have been evasive.

Its failure to carry out its duty as prescribed in the federal constitution will have far-reaching effects, especially when the citizens may once again come out in droves, as witnessed during Bersih rallies.

Each time there is a major demonstration, and the use of force to quell the voices of dissent, Barisan Nasional faces a backlash, as seen from the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

The EC’s reluctance to come clean on the way it runs elections has indirectly cost BN its votes.

Spirit of the constitution

It is implied in the constitution under Clause 4 of the Thirteenth Schedule that the EC has to announce any amendments to a constituency to the people living in the said constituency by publishing it in the Gazette and the newspaper that is circulated within the constituency.

The federal constitution, written around the 1950s, was to ensure that there is sufficient public engagement. However, times have changed and people hardly read the Gazettes or the printed newspapers. The means to achieve the ends have to change with time.

In the spirit of the constitution, the EC still has the duty to engage with the constituency before the amendments are made. It has to look for the correct tools to ensure that more people are aware of the amendments to be made.

However, has the EC done what is necessary to inform the constituencies affected by the delimitation exercise conducted once every 10 years? Putting the documents on display in some secluded place within its office premises would not do, especially since the stakeholders may not even be aware of the amendments.

A good example is the map for layout of the constituencies. Why is it that the EC cannot make it available for as many people as possible?

As I understand it, the maps for layout of the constituencies within Sarawak are only available for purchase from the EC headquarters in Putrajaya, while the maps for individual constituencies in Sarawak are only available from the EC office in Sarawak but not in Putrajaya.

This does not make sense at all, especially when all these maps originate from Putrajaya. Why make it so difficult to acquire? Furthermore, according to TindakMalaysia, the price of these maps have gone up by more than 300 percent from RM12 in 2013 to RM40 today.

Not only that, but apparently, even if you have the money to buy the delimitation proposal maps, they may not be available for sale anywhere!

With the advent of the Internet technology, there is no better way to engage the public than to publish the amendments online so that it is accessible to the stakeholders.

Transparent or opaque?

This is extremely alarming and carries with it very serious implications, as it smacks of a cover-up, which hinders the constituents to effectively object the EC’s proposals.

The question is, why the EC has not made any commitment to publish the digital maps online or even make it available to parties such as the Bersih 2.0 steering committee and Tindak Malaysia to study.

How is it that the EC, with its huge budgets every year that runs into the millions of ringgit of public funds, is unable to provide the digital maps, whereas Tindak Malaysia, a self-funded non-governmental organisation which is run by volunteers, has come out with its set of digital maps that represent a more equitable distribution of voters? Link to maps are already available from here .

We claim that in just six years, we would have become a developed nation. Vision 2020, which will only be few years after the completion of the coming delimitation exercise, will put us in the spotlight, as our democratic practices are worse than other Third-World countries.

The EC, in its website, carries its well-known motto, ‘Cekap dan Telus’ (Efficien and Transparent). This is all but some good slogans similar to the 1Malaysia campaign during the lead up to the last general election, unless the EC is willing to live by its own motto.

The question is: Will it?

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.