Menurut Ahli Parlimen Serdang, Ong Kian Ming(kanan), Wan Ahmad adalah salah
seorang pegawai SPR yang terlibat dalam persempadanan semula kawasan
pilihanraya di 2003.Menggunakan Kedah sebagai contoh, Ong berkata SPR tidak melakukan amanah tersebut berdasarkan undang-undang, malah sangat memihak kepada BN pada 2003 ketika Wan Ahmad menjadi timbalan pengerusi SPR.
“Perkara itu paling jelas di Kedah di mana tiada kerusi parlimen mahupun Dun ditambah selepas BN hilang 2/3 majoriti Dewan Rakyat setelah tewas di pilihanraya kecil Lunas pada tahun 2000, tapi sempadan dilakar semula dengan niat membantu Umno untuk menang kembali beberapa kawasan parlimen yang ia tewas pada pilihanraya umum 1999,” kata Ong dalam satu kenyataan.
Sebelum ini, SPR telah cuba mempertahankan perbezaan dalam jumlah undi setiap kawasan dengan merujuk kepada prinsip pemberat kawasan pedalaman (rural weightage) di mana kawasan pedalaman, dengan jaringan pengangkutan yang lemah dan luas kawasannya, perlu mempunyai jumlah pengundi yang lebih kecil daripada kawasan bandar yang lebih tepu dan lebih mudah dihubungi.
“Tapi di Kedah, ketika persempadanan semula 2003, prinsip ini dilanggar dengan jelas. Undi bukan Melayu telah dikeluarkan daripada kawasan selamat Alor Setar dan dimasukkan ke kawasan PAS iaitu Kuala Kedah dan Pokok Sena.
"Pengundi bukan Melayu juga dikeluarkan dari kawasan kerusi selamat Merbok ke kerusi PAS di Jerai. Kawasan majoriti Umno BN di Padang Serai telah dipindahkan ke kerusi PAS di Baling,” hujah Ong.
Jadual 1: Perbezaan di kawasan dan jumlah pengundi antara kawasan bandar dan pedalaman di Kedah selepas persempadanan semula Kedah pada 2003.
| Kerusi Parlimen | Keluasan (km2) | Jumlah Pengundi pada 2003 | Jumlah Pengundi pada 2013 |
| P8 Pokok Sena | 320 | 64192 | 80916 |
| P9 Alor Setar | 109 | 56007 | 69189 |
| P10 Kuala Kedah | 232 | 73942 | 95534 |
| P16 Baling | 1544 | 73942 | 93376 |
| P17 Padang Serai | 352 | 51778 | 74245 |
“Sebagai contoh, P9 Alor Setar, walaupun ialah kawasan bandar yang maju dengan keluasan kawasan terkecil di antara semua parlimen di Kedah, sebenarnya mempunyai jumlah pengundi (56,007) yang lebih kecil berbanding dengan kawasan jiran yang lebih besar seperti P8 Pokok Sena (64,912) and P10 Kuala Kedah (73,942).
Perbezaan ini masih kelihatan di pilihanraya 2013, Alor Setar mempunyai 69,189 pengundi berbanding 80,916 di Pokok Senan dan 95,534 di Kuala Kedah,” kata Ong.
Kes paling melampau kata Ong ialah P16 Baling, kawasan pedalaman di Kedah. Persempadanan semula di 2003 telah meningkatkan jumlah keluasan Baling dari 1,107km2 ke 1,544km2, sedikit kecil daripada keseluruhan Melaka.
Ini, katanya kerana salah satu daripada kawasan kuat Umno di kawasan jiran Padang Serai – Kuala Ketil – telah dipindahkan di kawasan Baling. Akibatnya, Padang Serai, yang lebih bersifat bandar mempunyai jumlah pengundi yang lebih kecil (51,778) dibandingkan dengan Baling (73,942).
"Perkara ini masih jelas kelihatan di pilihanraya 2013. Baling sekarang mempunyai 93,386 pengundi (kedua terbesar di Kedah) dibandingkan dengan 74,425 pengundi di kawasan bandar Padang Serai,” jelas Ong.
Ini semua membuktikan bahawa prinsip ‘rural weightage’ langsung tidak diikuti oleh SPR ketika persempadanan semula di Kedah.
Persempadanan melampau ini, kata Ong, akhirnya makan tuan pada pilihanraya di 2008 apabila pengundi bukan Melayu yang setia pada BN, yang tidak akan mengundi PAS, telah memberikan undi mereka kepada pembangkang.
“Antara pegawai SPR yang ada, Wan Ahmad adalah antara yang bersama SPR ketika persempadanan melampau di 2003. Oleh itu, beliau pegawai SPR yang paling kurang layak untuk mempertahankan rekod SPR untuk memastikan persempadanan semula yang adil bermula hujung tahun ini,” kata Ong.-harakahdaily
Wan Ahmad not fit to talk about 'fair' redelineation...
It was reported in The Star on May 26, 2013, that Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar had reassured the public of “utmost transparency” in the upcoming redelineation exercise.
He also tried to defend the EC against allegations of gerrymandering constituencies in favor of the BN by saying that “many people are unaware of how the review is conducted and merely believe some political parties which accuse us of not doing our job in accordance with the law”.
The
fact of the matter is that the EC did not do their job in accordance
with the law, but was in fact heavily biased towards the BN during the
2003 redelineation exercise when Wan Ahmad (left) was also the EC deputy chairperson then. This was most obvious in the state of Kedah where no parliamentary and state seats were added (because the BN lost their two-thirds’ control of the state assembly after losing the 2000 Lunas by-election), but boundaries were redrawn with the sole intention of helping Umno win back some of the parliamentary seats which it had lost in the 1999 general election.
The EC has tried to defend the disparity in the number of voters per seat by referring to the ‘rural weightage’ principle where rural areas - with poorer transportation networks and a larger area of coverage - should have a smaller number of voters compared to urban areas, which are more compact and are more accessible.
However, during the 2003 redelineation exercise in Kedah, this principle was clearly violated.
Non-Malay voters were moved out from the then safe seats of Alor Setar into the PAS-held seats of Kuala Kedah and Pokok Sena. In addition, non-Malay voters were moved out from the then safe seat of Merbok into the PAS held seat of Jerai. Meanwhile, pro-Umno/BN majority areas in the then safe seat of Padang Serai were moved to the PAS held seat of Baling.
This blatant gerrymandering on the part of the EC was obvious when we compared the number of voters in and the area of coverage of these seats in 2003.
'Disparity still seen in GE13 figures'
For example, P9 Alor Setar, despite being the most urbanised seat with the smallest area (sq km) among all parliament seats in Kedah, actually had fewer voters (56,007) compared to the adjoining larger and less urban seats of P8 Pokok Sena (64,912 voters) and P10 Kuala Kedah (73,942 voters). This disparity can still be seen in the 2013 general election figures. Alor Setar now has 69,189 voters compared to 80,916 for Pokok Sena and 95,534 for Kuala Kedah.
An
even more obvious case is that of P16 Baling, a largely rural seat in
Kedah. The 2003 delimitation exercise increased the area of coverage for
Baling from 1,107 sq km to 1,544 sq km, which makes the size of the
Baling seat slightly smaller than the entire state of Malacca. This was because one of the strong Umno state seats in the adjoining Padang Serai parliamentary constituency - Kuala Ketil - was moved to Baling.
The result was that Padang Serai, a much more urban seat, ended up with fewer voters (51,778) compared to the much larger Baling (with 73,942 voters). This disparity can still be seen from the GE13 figures.
Baling now has 93,376 voters (second largest in Kedah) compared to only 74,425 voters for the more urbanised seat of Padang Serai.
The ‘rural weightage’ principle was clearly not followed by the EC during the 2003 redelineation exercise in the state of Kedah.
In an ironic twist of fate, this blatant gerrymandering ended up hurting the BN in 2008 because the non-Malay voters, who were considered hardcore BN supporters who would never vote for PAS, switched their votes to the opposition in the 2008 general election.
As someone who has studied the redelineation exercise in detail, I can safely say that I am not one of the people ‘who are not aware of how the review is conducted’. Which is why I can also safely say that the EC was anything but impartial in the 2003 redelineation exercise.
Among its members, Wan Ahmad is the only one who was part of the EC during the biased 2003 redelineation exercise. As such, he is the least qualified member of the EC to defend its record in ensuring a fair redelineation exercise that will start at the end of the year.
As long as Wan Ahmad is one of the EC members who will oversee the upcoming redelineation exercise, I have no confidence whatsoever that it will be done transparently, fairly and in accordance to the ‘one-man, one-vote’ principle.- ong kian meng,malaysiakini
cheers.
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