KUCHING: State DAP will contest in ‘some of the 11 new state seats’ in the coming election, said its chairman Chong Chieng Jen yesterday.
However, he declined to name the new seats that DAP would contest in.
“I can only speak on behalf of DAP. Some of the seats we will be contesting. But I won’t specify any number or areas that we are contesting.
“For those seats we will be contesting, we have candidates working there for a period of time,” he said in a phone interview.
On Wednesday, the Dewan Rakyat approved the motion to raise the number of state constituencies in Sarawak from 71 to 82.
The new seats are Batu Kitang, Stakan, Serembu, Bukit Semuja, Gedong, Kabong, Tellian, Bukit Goram, Murum, Samalaju and Mulu.
Chong, who is also Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, opined that there would not be any need to increase the number of seats to 82 had the existing elected representatives been performing.
He said this was despite them receiving remuneration increment.
“Even some from the BN component parties were complaining (the increment is) too high and yet they are supporting the increase of the state seats.
“If you’re looking at the increased 11 seats, you’re talking about an additional few million of remuneration.”
Refuting a reason given by BN to justify the seat increment, he asked: “Are they saying the existing Aduns are not doing their job well, so they are creating new seats to compensate the existing ones?”
Among the reasons cited for the redelineation was to improve the services of state assemblypersons (Aduns) to the people.
However, Chong alleged that the redelineation exercise “is a clear indication to help BN Sarawak to win more seats and consolidate its power”.
Making a comparison, he said Pending spanning an area of 14 sq km is 40 per cent bigger than Satok that covers only 10 sq km.
“But in terms of number of voters, Pending is two and a half times bigger than Satok,” he said, adding that Pending had over 30,000 voters while Satok had about 13,000 voters.
He pointed out that many state constituencies were bigger and had more than twice the number of voters than Satok, naming them as Batu Lintang, Kota Sentosa, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Pujut and Senadin.
“So the rationale to increase seats in rural areas given by BN, that bigger areas are harder to serve, just does not add up.”
Citing another example, Chong said Dudong, which covers an area of 660 sq km has over 28,000 voters whereas new seat Gedong has only over 6,000 voters.
“If you talk about that, Dudong should have additional seats. So the whole thing is manipulation and gerrymandering just to let BN Sarawak hold on to their power.
“Another reason is just to make it easier for (Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri) Adenan Satem to sort out their internal squabbles, but along the way the rakyat have to pay more money for it.”
Meanwhile, Chong, who is also national DAP vice chairman, said the opposition coalition parties at federal level were still working on the common policy framework for Pakatan Harapan.
Despite the approaching state election, he said it mattered more for opposition candidates to keep up with their ground work.-Borneo Post
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