The refusal of the Election Commission's (EC) to cooperate with the Penang government’s representative committee on the state's electoral boundary re-delineation (ED) undermines its own credibility.

The committee which consists of parliamentarians Mujahid Rawa (PAS-Parit Buntar), Ng Wei Aik (DAP-Tanjong) and Sim Tze Tzin (PKR-Bayan Baru), said with the entire re-delineation exercise shrouded in secrecy, the refusal of EC only made things worse.

“They have refused to see us. We are extremely disappointed that EC flatly rejected (discussing the re-delineation with the) official representatives of a state government.

“Until today, the entire re-delineation exercise is shrouded in secrecy, without proper consultation with the stakeholders.

“The EC’s refusal to meet the official representatives of a state government has undermined its own credibility,” Mujahid ( left ), Ng and Sim said in a joint statement today.

They had sent a letter to the EC, on behalf of the state government on Nov 25, in the hope of engaging with the EC in a positive and cooperative spirit.

Although disappointed that their proposal for a meeting to discuss the re-delineation in Penang was flatly rejected, the three MPs said they will persist and send another appointment letter in January.

“Regardless of the rejection of our committee, we still hold that principle of positive engagement and will continue to seek a meeting with the EC,” they said.

'Process of re-delineation still in research stage'

The letter from the EC stated that it is unable to fulfil the committee's request because “the process (of re-delination) is still in its research stage and have yet to be finalised”.

Mujahid, Ng ( left ) and Sim pointed out that the EC has not been transparent in engaging stakeholders in the re-delineation process and called for this to be changed.

They stated four demands for the EC to fulfil on the matter of transparent re-delineation.

The first is for the EC to engage with state governments, the local councils, political parties and civil society groups in its preparatory work on the re-delineation plan.

Second, the EC should not make the commencement of the re-delineation exercise a guessing game and should instead make a public announcement. The third calls for the EC’s proposals to be displayed, both physically and digitally.

Finally, the EC must ensure that inquiries held in the event of objections are carried out professionally and impartially, with full access for the mass media.

“We call upon the Election Commission to make the constituency re-delineation process a participatory, accountable and transparent one,” they said.