SUBANG JAYA, 25 Jan: The 13th General Election (GE13) Tribunal panel recommends the establishment of an independent committee to determine the re-delineation of electoral boundaries to avoid interference from stakeholders.
The recommendation was put forward because previously there has been some dispute over the re-delineation causing an increase in voters in an area which have been disputed by various parties.
The Tribunal Chairman, Professor Yash Pal Chai from Kenya, said that the committee should be independent and expert, and all reports should be sent to the Dewan Rakyat because it is able to ease the burden of the Election Commission (EC) as well as strengthen the statutory body.
“Consideration in determining the members of the committee should be made by the majority in Parliament or submit the final results to a qualified body.
“Any changes to recommendations made in the report of the independent body can only be made by the majority vote in the Dewan Rakyat or a final decision made by an expert.
“There is doubt on the features to determine the time when the re-delineation can be done. The re-delineation should be carried out after every census.
“We propose for the measure (after each census) to be adopted and the Constitution to be amended to enable the implementation of this proposal,” he said during the presentation session today.
This was also supported by the Tribunal panel member, Professor Ramlan Surbakti from Indonesia who said that this is being done in his country and he was one of the committee members in 2011.
“Among the qualities needed to be a member with integrity is to not be tied to any political party for five years before the establishment and have leadership qualities.
“14 names were proposed but seven were elected to be part of it. To date, these seven individuals have successfully conducted the elections properly and we hope this will continue,” he said.
The tribunal panel involved was also joined by three other experts from Malaysia; Datuk Azzat Kamaludin, Dr Mavis Puthucheary and Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, as well as some individuals called during the hearing process, including the police, the public, party representatives and media personnel.
The GE13 tribunal was conducted to investigate irregularities that happened in the said election which resulted in a number of controversies arising and among the areas reviewed includes the cleaning of the electoral roll, media access, the use of government machinery and indelible ink.