DAP condemns PAS Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Khairuddin Aman Razali for unashamedly declaring its objective to win a two-thirds majority in the next general election, with the help of its allies, to redraw election boundaries in a way that will benefit Malays and Muslims. This is an unequivocal admission that PAS through the PN government, will gerrymander constituencies at the expense of Malaysians who uphold parliamentary democracy, particularly non-Malays and non-Muslims.
Already the rights of non-Malays and non-Muslims are being threatened under a PN government that uses race and religion to keep its tenuous hold on power. To make such a divisive and irresponsible declaration of intent to discriminate, deprive and deny the rights of non-Malays and non-Muslims, is both racist and a religious extremist. It also contradicts the fundamental democratic principle of equal representation and value of “one-person, one-vote”, a clear and present danger to our Malaysian identity and nation-building.
There is no doubt that Khairudin’s racist and religious extremist objective will be rejected by all right-thinking and justice-loving Malaysians, especially in Sabah and Sarawak. The problem is that the non-Muslims and non-Malays in the PN government will remain subservient and betray their own communities and the Federal Constitution to remain in power.
Khairuddin stated the long-term needs to change the electoral boundaries to benefit Muslims and increase the number of parliamentary seats in Malay-majority areas. PAS and PN is clearly unconstitutional. Nothing is stated in the Federal Constitution that there can redelineation of constituencies based on race and religion.
In fact, Schedule 13 of the Malaysian Constitution specifically prohibits malapportionment and gerrymandering of electoral boundaries. Whilst there may be a need to give some allowance to rural areas due to their geographic size and remoteness, there already exists severe malapportionment where voters in rural areas have greater voter weightage of up to 7 times more compared to urban counterparts.
Now PAS wants to put in an additional perversion to the value of one-person one vote and principle of equal representation in a democracy, by lashing on the toxic mix of race and religion. This alarming future of electoral racial and religious “apartheid” will make Malaysian democracy a mockery.
This reminds us of the inflammatory suggestion by an UMNO leader to remove the voting rights of non-Malays. Should PAS succeed in securing a 2/3 majority in the coming general election, it is clear that they intend to amend the Federal Constitution to rig the elections in their favour. DAP opposes PAS vision of racial and religious electoral apartheid.