Tuesday, 11 November 2014

"Where are the 11 extra seats?"

KUCHING, Nov 11, 2014: Where are the extra 11 state seats and where will they be, Pelawan State Assemblyman Wong Kee Woan asked when debating on the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill 2014 in the State Assembly today.

"Are they to cater for the rural areas?" he asked.


"I believe the government do have an idea, but it is  not coming clean to provide this House with the transparency needed for us to make an informed decision for the benefit of the people," Wong said.

Then he asked:"How can we pass this Bill when we do not know much about it? Is the government asking this House to sign a blank cheque for it to do whatever it wants? "

He said that the State Assembly should not be pressured or compelled or obliged into passing the Bill unless the lawmakers know what they are getting into.

He also called for a fairness in the delineation of electoral boundaries, saying that  out of the current 71 state constituencies, seven are with more than 25,000 voters, 26 with Less than 10,000 voters and 22 are with Less than 15,000 voters.

He said Pending in Kuching has 29,488 registered voters compared with 6,958 for  Ba'Kelalan and 10,431 for Satok.

"If we are talking about effective representation, then do such figures tell us anything?" he asked.





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