So, who is telling the truth?
The Election Commission’s redelineation proposal sees all political parties talking about being on the losing end, but the eventual outcome is quite apparent.
by Tay Tian Yan
MCA and Gerakan say the Election Commission’s (EC) redelineation proposal is doing DAP a huge favour whereby the Chinese-dominant parties within BN will be squeezed out.
DAP protests the claim, saying the party is also a victim of the redelineation exercise because some of its seats may be lost after the redelineation, and that Umno is the only party that will benefit from it.
Meanwhile, PKR, PAS and MIC all say the redelineation will do them more harm than good.
The weird thing is that even Umno now says it is on the losing end because it will be at a disadvantage in constituencies like Ampang, Batang Kali and Lembah Jaya.
So, who is telling the truth now? Or is the EC just doing all this for the sake of doing it?
It all comes down to the zero sum theory. When one side gains, sure enough the other side is on the losing end and vice versa.
There are 222 parliamentary seats and 576 state seats – the numbers have been fixed and won’t be increased or decreased. So when one side wins, the other side must lose for sure.
So, don’t trust these people’s trash talk as they are only trying to fool the voters or to up their bargaining chips.
The point is, putting the same ethnic group in high concentrations in a number of constituencies will definitely put monoracial parties in an advantageous position because they can win solely from the votes of people from one specific ethnic group.
Umno only needs Malay votes to win while DAP can survive wholly on Chinese votes.
So long as a constituency has a majority Malay population, Umno will naturally get the upper hand. Similarly, in a Chinese-majority seat, the Rocket will remain solid as ever.
On the contrary, PKR, MCA and Gerakan in the past managed to bag some seats mainly in mixed constituencies. Although PKR is dominated by the Malays, the party had secured the support of many Chinese voters, while MCA and Gerakan, despite the fact they are Chinese-dominant, were able to win thanks to the support of Malay voters.
The disappearance of mixed constituencies makes it very hard for PKR to fight against Umno in Malay constituencies, while MCA and Gerakan can’t compete with DAP in Chinese seats.
Do you still think there is any future for these parties? Their days are numbered, and this is well within everyone’s guess.
The final outcome could look something like this: Following the continuous increase in the ratio of Malay voters, Umno seats will keep increasing, and although the number of Chinese seats are shrinking, DAP’s hold will strengthen in these constituencies.
In other words, Umno’s future couldn’t be any brighter, and while DAP’s development will be capped by the new boundaries, the party will still manage to hold on to its strongholds. As for PKR, MCA. Gerakan, MIC, etc, their future is doomed.
So, Umno is prepared to be the all-powerful long-term ruling party while DAP continues to be the minority opposition party.
There aren’t any balancing forces between the two sides. The Umno administration that relies heavily on Malay votes will lean more and more towards Malay nationalism while DAP can only stick to its minority confrontational strategy.
Is this what we want for the country’s political future?
Tay Tian Yan writes for Sin Chew Daily.
Sin Chew Daily is a local vernacular publication
With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s (or organisation’s) personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram