How electoral abuse fleeces Indians

COMMENT Electoral constituencies in Malaysia are determined in a two-step process. First, parliamentary constituencies are apportioned among the various states. Second, the parliamentary and state constituencies are delineated in each state.

The ruling party controls the apportionment among states through amendments to Article 46 of the federal constitution. The Election Commission (EC) then delineates the apportioned constituencies.

As there is a lack of specification of the rules governing the Election Commission on this particular function, the numerous delineation exercises that have been conducted in Malaysia since Merdeka have been carved to favour the ruling Umno-led government.

By way of this discriminatory process, the third largest ethnic community in the country, consisting of more than 2 million people, have been denied of even a single Indian-majority constituency.

This has been the single biggest contributory factor to ethnic Indians in this country being at the lowest rungs of the demographic index among all the races.

Even though there are several Indian elected representatives in Parliament as well as in state assemblies, the very fact that they are elected from constituencies where Indians form the minority, render them toothless to highlight or champion the gross marginalisation and discrimination policies of Indians by the government.

The representatives are dependent on the majority communities, mainly the Malays and Chinese, in their respective constituencies.

Apportionment, districting

Constituency delineation has two aspects that can affect electoral outcomes: the distribution of the total electorate among constituencies (apportionment) and the determination of constituency boundaries (districting).

Both have been exploited for partisan political advantage by the Umno-led government and are common and effective forms of electoral abuses that have been implemented to shortchange the Indian population and render them ‘voiceless’ at the ballot box.

The Umno-led government, through the Election Commission, has delineated constituencies with unequal electorates (mal-apportionment) to favour themselves with more Malay-majority supporters in the smaller constituencies.

The constituency boundaries have also been drawn to favour Umno and disadvantage the Indian community, a practice commonly known as gerrymandering. The manner in which the country’s total electorate has been divided into electoral constituencies over the years, has cruelly and crucially affected Indian electoral strength under plurality elections.

The biased application of rural weightage, which since 1973 has been constitutionally left to the discretion of the Election Commission, has also gravely contributed to rendering the Indian vote powerless.

This has aggravated the Indian political dilemma, heightened perceptions of political inequalities, particularly for Indians, and worsened racial polarisation among Malaysians.

It is indeed shocking and discouraging that, while Indians reside in large numbers in many areas, like Sungai Petani, Padang Serai, Batu Kawan, Nibong Tebal, Ipoh Barat, Bagan Datoh, Teluk Intan, Tg Malim, Sg Siput, Klang, Kota Raja, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Langat, Kapar, Sepang, Kelana Jaya, Teluk Kemang, Rasah, Cameron Highlands and Lembah Pantai, the Election Commission has not seen it fit to carve out even a single Indian-majority constituency.

Instead, the commission has bent backwards to create Malay-majority constituencies like in Putrajaya, which consists of a miserable 5,096 voters, 95 percent of whom are Malay-Muslims.

Perlis, as another example, has 15 state assembly seats with each having less than 9,600 voters consisting again of mainly Malay Muslims.

Indians voters number more than 715,000 in total, but they have zero Indian-majority constituencies.

Sabahan voters number 802,000, and they have 25 parliamentary seats and 60 state assembly seats.

Sarawakian voters number  886,000, and they have 31 parliamentary and 71 state seats. The Orang Ulu, meanwhile, who form just 0.005% of the Malaysian population, have four state seats created especially for them.

They even have the parliamentary seat of Baram, which is 42.8%-Orang Ulu within a voter composition of 24,398 in total.

Ethnic Indians make up 8% of the Malaysia’s population, but have zero Indian-majority constituencies.

All over the world , democracy is preserved and enhanced by giving a ‘voice’ to the minorities through the ballot by providing constitutionally and legislatively reserved seats so that their legitimate interests will be protected and not drowned by the majority.

'Nowhere but Malaysia'

In Singapore, the Group Representative Constituencies (GRC) provides for mandatory Malay and Indian candidates to be listed in order to total about one-third of the total number of Singapore’s parliamentary constituencies, with the view to protecting minority interests.

In India, the minority Anglo-Indians have been granted two Lower House of Parliament ‘Lok Sabha’ seats.

In Lebanon, Belgium, Cyprus and even in Zimbabwe, communal rolls and special electoral requirements to accommodate the representation of cultural groups based on religion or language are in place to protect minority interests.

Everywhere, it seems, are the minorities assured representation except in Malaysia.

Nowhere in the whole world do you find civilised nations professing to be democratic - except Malaysia - would you find the third-largest race, 8% of the population, who do not have even a single constituency composed of a majority of its ethnicity.

The state of Selangor has the highest concentration of Indians in the country. More than one-third of the Indian population in Malaysia resides in this state.

However, since 1974, through two successive delineation exercises in 1984 and 1994, the difference between the actual parliamentary seats allocated versus the number of parliamentary seats that Selangor should have been allocated has been reduced systematically to being the worst in the entire Peninsula.

'True' multiracialism

More than 70% of Indians in this country have been marginalised and are living in poverty.

This is due to the lack of appropriate representation. The voter make-up in present state and parliamentary constituencies make the Indian voters the minority. As such, their rights are not championed in the national and state legislative assemblies.

The Human Rights Party proposes for the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reform recommend that 53 constituencies where Indians make up a significant majority of voters be established.

Thus, I am not proposing simply that more Indian representatives be elected, for I would support even that Malay-Muslim representatives be elected in such Indian-majority constituencies.

This would be truly ‘multiracial’, as opposed to false claim that Indians are being represented simply because they were elected by Malay-Muslim-majority constituencies.

It’s only through the creation of Indian-majority seats that all the woes of the Indian community can be highlighted.

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P UTHAYAKUMAR is pro-tem secretary-general of the Human Rights Party.