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Gerakan identifies 30pct of seats affected by redelineation

About 30 percent of the constituencies contested by Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) in the previous general election are involved in the redelineation of electoral boundaries by the Election Commission (EC), said its deputy president Dr Cheah Soon Hai.

He said it was important for Gerakan to seek solutions with other BN component parties on this issue.

The electoral boundary issue was not solely on race but also the question of changes to the voting patterns if implemented.

“We have already prepared the political machineries of a constituency and when the redelineation comes into force, we have to move to new areas and start all over again.

“We have submitted our protests (verbally) to Barisan Nasional (BN). We will send them officially to BN soon,” he told reporters after opening the Gerakan Youth and Wanita Delegates Conference at Menara PGRM in Kuala Lumpur today.

The EC is displaying the Redelineation of Electoral Boundaries for constituencies in peninsular Malaysia and Sabah for public viewing for a month, starting from Sept 15 to Oct 14 for checking and objection.

EC secretary Abdul Ghani Salleh said the review was conducted based on the provisions of Clause (2) Article 113 of the Federal Constitution and amendments to Clause (2) Article 14 of the Sabah state constitution, which was gazetted on Aug 18.

On the possibility of BN component parties exchanging parliamentary and state seats, Cheah said his party was open to discussion.

“We will discuss it behind closed doors. Of course we are open to discussions with component parties. But we have not decided how many seats will be swapped. We need to do a lot of ground work. We should have consensus on who is the better candidate, who have the better chance among us. And the interest of component parties should also be taken into account too,” he said.

Dr Cheah said the exchange and allocation of parliamentary and state seats in the 14th general election was important to ensure the party remained relevant in the nation’s political arena.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Cheah said the tax relief provided by the government at the moment was insufficient for the middle class as pay rise had to be coordinated with the rate of inflation and cost of living.

“The government needs to give more initiatives to the middle income group to enjoy a better and more stable life,” he added.

In this direction, Dr Cheah said private companies should be more flexible in understanding the needs of the workers from the new generation and ensure a better working environment.

- Bernama

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