Malaysian bid to redraw electoral map sparks anger

The Malaysian government yesterday sought to redraw the electoral map in what critics slammed as a bid to rig forthcoming polls, sparking drama in parliament as an opposition leader was ejected while angry protests raged outside.

The election is expected within weeks and Prime Minister Najib Razak is battling to keep his long-ruling coalition in power despite allegations that billions of dollars were looted from a sovereign wealth fund founded by him.

He is also facing a tough challenge from an opposition headed by veteran ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad, 92, who is seeking to win over the government's traditional support base of rural Muslim voters.

Najib yesterday tabled a bill in parliament to redraw electoral boundaries, with changes proposed to almost two-thirds of seats in Peninsular Malaysia.

The opposition claims the government is overhauling seats along racial lines, lumping their supporters together in bigger constituencies and creating smaller ones packed with voters from the Muslim Malay majority, who traditionally support the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

The bill is expected to pass easily in the BN-dominated parliament.

The coalition, which has governed Malaysia since independence in 1957, is under pressure to do better in the forthcoming polls after losing the popular vote for the first time in 2013, and as discontent grows at graft scandals, race-based politics in the multi-ethnic country and rising living costs.

But the bid to overhaul the electoral map has been slammed as a blatant attempt by a desperate leader to cling to power despite the controversy over state fund 1MDB, and protesters marched on parliament as the bill was presented.

About 200 demonstrators waved banners that read "stealing an election is not winning an election", and were joined at one point by Mahathir, who led Malaysia for 22 years.

Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, deputy leader of the opposition coalition Pact of Hope and wife of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, told AFP that the bid to redraw electoral boundaries was "scandalous".

“It amounts to vote rigging because the new electoral boundaries will result in the election favouring Barisan Nasional," she said. "We believe an election victory may be stolen from us."