The change in racial composition in a constituency is not a major focus in conducting the review of electoral boundaries, according to the Election Commission.

The EC’s redelineation division secretary Mohd Shukur Khalid said, on the contrary, the EC paid attention to the elements of reducing the gap in the number of voters, facilities for the administration of electoral affairs and registration of voters, maintenance of local community relations, and providing space for elected representatives to serve effectively.

"Although the impact of urbanisation has taken place since the early days of independence, the reality of urban settlements is dependent on their own income," he said when appearing as a guest on Bernama Radio's 1Malaysia Negaraku slot here today.

Responding to allegations by some quarters that the EC's recommendations would lead to racial polarisation, Mohd Shukur said the reality was that the implementation of the review involving the transfer of electoral districts would indirectly alter racial composition in a constituency and this cannot be avoided.

The proposal to review the electoral boundaries was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on March 28 and received support from 129 MPs compared to 80 opposing.

The report on the review of the electoral boundaries recommended that there should be no increase in seats for parliamentary and state constituencies, meaning that the parliamentary and state seats remain at 222 and 587, respectively.

The EC also recommended name changes to 12 parliamentary constituencies and 28 state constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia. The last time a review was held was in 2003.

- Bernama