More mixed constituencies to dilute racial and religious campaigning
PUTRAJAYA: Having a larger number of mixed constituencies would curb politicians from campaigning along racial and religious lines that further divides Malaysians, said Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in a group interview.
On that note he also blamed the former Election Commission (EC) for committing “blatant gerrymandering and malapportionment” through the redelineation exercise which led to a reduced number of mixed constituencies.
“Look at our parliamentary constituencies in the last general election. Out of 222 seats, there are only about 83 seats which are really mixed seats.
“In actual fact, if you look at the geography of the constituencies, we should have had about 140 mixed seats. But I think the last EC was corrupt.
“Once we have more mixed seats, the dynamics of the campaign will be different. Politicians will be encouraged to campaign across ethnic lines.
“Anyone campaigning along an extreme racial agenda will not be successful because the constituents will be mixed,” reported Malaysiakini.
The last redelineation exercise was conducted in 2017. The exercise by EC is conducted once every eight years.
He further added that having more multiracial constituencies would also be beneficial for multiracial parties.
If they have to campaign across ethnic lines, politicians would be more likely to join multiracial parties, he said.
“I am always for parties that are multiracial. I know people will ask me, then why did you join Umno? I joined Umno because I wanted to be a member of BN, I couldn’t be a direct member of BN.
“But you need political parties that are multiracial,” he said.
He also called upon Malaysia to build up the democratic system based on the values shared by all Malaysians, regardless of their backgrounds.
“This is a huge project. It is something we really have to do, and it goes beyond taking action against one or two people, beyond just about economics.
“It is really building a new democratic system, and this is why I think the political reforms and institutional reforms related to democratic systems are an ongoing project.
“This is not about who will win elections. Malaysians want the politics and the democratic systems to genuinely represent the profile of the Malaysian community,” he said.
He added that currently Malaysia is in the stage of implementing political and democratic reforms.
The first stage was the early days of democracy when the country was just formed, while the second stage was when the country began to strengthen its democratic institutions such as the Parliament, election and party systems.
“We are now, to my mind, in the third stage. It is about reform and the widening of people’s participation,” he said.
These political and democratic reforms include moves such as establishing parliamentary select committees and the lowering of the voting age.
Increasing public participation, meanwhile, is when the government engages more with the business community and civil society.
“I am not saying BN did not do this at all. They had a few examples where they also consulted civil society and businesses, but not in a big way like what we are doing now.
“If you observe now, most ministries have their own consultative committees. Wisma Putra has its own consultative council. We never had that before,” he said.
