ALOR STAR: Pakatan Harapan leaders in Kedah do not seem to be on the same wavelength over their stand on the redelineation exercise by the Election Commission (EC).
Few days after the state Pakatan deputy chairman Dr Azman Ismail claimed that the redelineation would benefit the pact in Kedah during the 14th general election (GE14), state Pakatan chairman Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said it would not work to their advantage.
Mukhriz claimed the pact received many complaints on the redelineation exercise, including the unbalanced distribution of voters.
“There are areas with changes in locality and voters are being moved from one area to another.
“It is acceptable if the voters are moved to an area close by, but imagine what will happen if voters find on polling day that their name has been moved to another polling centre. They might be frustrated and even refuse to exercise their right to vote,” he told reporters after meeting state EC officers at its office in Anak Bukit here today.
Last Thursday, Dr Azman was quoted by an online news portal that the redelineation of constituencies would benefit Pakatan in Kedah instead of working towards Barisan Nasional's (BN) advantage.
He claimed the proposed redelineation in Kedah would separate the voters based on race with the intention of strengthening the support in Malay majority areas for BN.
Dr Azman was quoted as saying that the exercise would benefit Pakatan based on the support given to the pact by Malay voters in the northern states.
Mukhriz, Azman and several Pakatan elected representatives earlier held a meeting with the state EC at the commissions office today.
Mukhriz claimed that the pact had received many complaints regarding the redelineation process in Kuala Kedah, Alor Star, Merbok and Pokok Sena constituencies.
He said Pakatan would soon submit a report on its claims to EC office for investigation.
“There are not many issues in Kedah, The parliamentary constituency may not change but there is some movement of voters in state seats and also polling districts,” he said.