KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government is determining a date to table a proposal by the Election Commission (EC) on the redrawing of electoral boundaries, said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Saturday (Mar 10).

Analysts believe that this move could give the ruling coalition an advantage in at least a dozen parliamentary seats as the redelineation could also give Barisan Nasional (BN) a 50-50 shot at recapturing the nation's richest state, Selangor.





“The date has not been set for the tabling yet because there are debates on the King’s speech (going on) in the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House) and after that there will be replies from ministers, followed by the tabling of new bills," said Dr Ahmad Zahid on Saturday, as reported by The Star.

“As chief whip I will discuss with the PM and Speaker when the date for the tabling of the redelineation can be done."



It is widely speculated that Prime Minister Najib Razak will dissolve parliament after this report is passed in Parliament and approved by the King, paving the way for the 14th general election.



On Friday, the EC announced it had submitted its final recommendations for redelineation exercises that could alter ethnic compositions and the names of constituencies, among other changes.





Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 on Saturday, however, said the final report was illegal as the EC had not finished hearing objections to the proposals in opposition state Selangor.



"In February, over 250 objections were filed by voters in Selangor, but the EC has only notified and held local enquiries for approximately 50 groups," it said in a statement.



Bersih 2.0 also criticised the commission for rushing the delineation process with no regard to "due process and principles provided in the Federal Constitution".