The Election Commission’s (EC) proposal to split Kenyalang Park here across three state constituencies has drawn strong opposition from Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong.
Under the proposed electoral redelineation, 6,578 voters from Kenyalang Park would be transferred from Pending to the proposed new Tabuan Jaya constituency, while another 1,845 voters from Taman Supreme would also be moved to the new seat.
Meanwhile, the Simpang Tiga area, currently under Pending, would be shifted to Padungan, with other parts of Kenyalang Park remaining in Pending.
Yong said she opposed the proposal because Kenyalang Park should remain as a united community, arguing that its residents shared common concerns, infrastructure and public facilities.
“I don’t agree that one community, EC, going to split this community into three parts. Because we want to keep this community intact,” she told reporters after a disaster financial aid distribution event here.
The DAP assemblywoman said keeping the community within one constituency would allow residents to maintain a collective voice when raising issues affecting them.
“I would like the EC to inform what is the criteria and justification for them to split my Kenyalang into three. This is the main gist of my argument,” she said.
Yong also said the minimum requirement of 100 Pending electors needed to file a representation against the proposed redelineation had already been met. She added that efforts to gather more signatures would continue to ensure more residents’ views could be presented to the EC.
In a separate written statement, Yong said the seventh review of electoral boundaries in Sarawak should not be viewed simply as the drawing of lines on a map.
She argued that electoral boundaries directly affect political representation, the collective voice of voters and the integrity of established communities, and should therefore be determined fairly and transparently in line with the Federal Constitution.
Yong also questioned whether the EC had provided enough information on the basis, criteria, data and methodology used to formulate the proposed boundaries.
“The public has the right to know why a particular kampung, residential area, or community is being transferred to another constituency; why an otherwise intact community is being divided among different constituencies; and why communities that share common interests and the same way of life are being separated,” she said.
She stressed that the principle of community integrity should be respected, saying established communities with shared interests, infrastructure, public facilities and common issues should remain within the same constituency wherever reasonably practicable.
“A constituency is not merely a collection of numbers. It is about people and real communities,” she added.
