Barisan Nasional and opposition leaders concur parliament, state assemblies should not have even number of seats
KUCHING: Leaders from both sides of the political divide agree parliament and state assemblies should have odd number of seats.
An even number can lead to a hung august House.
Terengganu is now staring at that possibility.
Kuala Besut assemblyman Dr A Rahman Mokhtar from Barisan Nasional (BN) died on June 26, and if the opposition won the by-election, it will be a hung assembly.
In the May 5 polls, BN won 17 seats and the opposition 15.
Apart from Terengganu, state assemblies with even seats are Kedah with 36, Pulau Pinang (40), Pahang (42), Selangor (56), Negeri Sembilan (36), Melaka (28), Johore (56) and Sabah (60).
Parliament has 222 seats.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Masing and PBB Supreme Council member Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said having an odd number of seats would prevent an impasse.
“Even though the possibility of a hung parliament or state assembly, such as that in Terengganu, is small, it might still happen.
“It would be good to have an odd number so that the chance of it occurring is nil,” Masing, who is also the Land Development Minister and Baleh assemblyman, told The Borneo Post.
Wan Junaidi, who is also Deputy Home Minister and Santubong MP, concurred.
“A hung parliament or state assembly is disruptive, if not outright problematic. Historically, it never happened in Malaysia, and seldom happened in Commonwealth countries.
“Under a different parliamentary system and political make up, the parties will get into ‘horse trading’. But under our political system it could develop into chaos and political instability,” cautioned Wan Junaidi.
He added new elections might have to be called, and this would mean disruption and cost to the country.
“It would be prudent if the Election Commission (EC) consider it (increase the number of parliamentary and assembly seats to an odd number), unless there is a good legal and conventional reason (not to do so),” he said.
Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said the nine states with even number of seats would face problems if the election results were close.
“This issue certainly warrants special attention from the EC in the coming delineation exercise,” said See, who is also state PKR secretary-general.
However, he believed the integrity of elected representatives is of crucial importance to ensure a stable assembly or parliament, irrespective of whether the number of seats is odd or even.
“The bigger issue to address is the enactment of anti-hopping laws. When the seat number is an odd number, there is nothing to stop the buying and crossing of elected representatives when the result is really close,” said See.