A member of Parliament and two state assemblypersons from Selangor DAP have launched a campaign to collect voters’ signatures to raise objections over the Election Commission’s (EC) redelineation proposal.

They were Serdang member of Parliament Ong Kian Ming, Balakong assemblyperson Eddie Ng Tien Chee and Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah.

Both Balakong and Seri Kembangan are state seats under the Serdang parliamentary constituency.

In the first phase of campaign, they will each collect the signatures of 100 voters to raise opposition to two of the EC’s proposals, that is to oppose Serdang being renamed as Bangi and to oppose 1,562 voters from Bukit Belimbing, Balakong being moved to Seri Kembangan.

“When the 1,562 voters from Bukit Belimbing, Balakong are moved to Seri Kembangan, it will eventually lead to two local councils being responsible for Seri Kembangan.

“This is because the 1,562 voters from Bukit Belimbing, Balakong were under the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKJ) but the voters in Seri Kembangan were under the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ),” Ng told a press conference in a restaurant at Bukit Belimbing today.

Ng said the situation of two local councils being responsible for Seri Kembangan after the EC redelineation exercise will bring many problems to local government administrative issues in Seri Kembangan.

“The local councils will have monthly meetings and normally will invite the member of Parliament and state assemblypersons to attend the meeting, but after the EC’s redelineation exercise, the local councils need to invite another assemblyperson.

“If the area (1,562 voters from Bukit Belimbing) remains with Balakong, then the MPKJ only needs to deal with Balakong assemblyperson instead of two assemblypersons,” explained Ng.

Meanwhile, Ean Yong urged NGOs and individual to raise objections against the EC’s redelineation as it is not only political parties’ responsibility.

He said 100 voters of each affected constituency can submit an objection to the EC before Oct 14.

'Better to have one local council in every state seat'

“It’s better to have only one local council in every state seat instead of two or more local councils because this will affect the local government’s service performance, that is why we oppose it,” said Ean Yong.

On the seat renaming issue, Ong said most of the residents of KL and Selangor were very familiar with the Serdang name, and the MRT Line 2 will also pass through the area.

“The MRT Line 2 is also called Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya. It has mentioned Serdang, hence I think the EC should not change Serdang to Bangi,” said Ong.

Ong’s Serdang constituency voters will also increase after the redelineation exercise, and Ong opined this violated the principle of “one man, one vote”.

He said that he will collect signatures from another 100 voters after this to oppose the EC’s redelineation which would increase the number of voters in his constituency.

The redelineation exercise officially started on Sept 15, with a one-month period for public viewing and objections.

The EC’s proposal would see the boundaries of 128 parliamentary constituencies redrawn.