‘Keep status quo in PJ Utara seat’

MCA: Current 82,000 voters in parliamentary seat manageable for any elected MP

SHAH ALAM: The PJ Utara parliamentary constituency along with the state seats within its boundaries should be maintained, says Petaling Jaya Utara MCA deputy chairman Ch’ng Soo Chau.

He said the current 82,000 voters in the parliamentary seat was manageable for any elected MP.

“Under PJ Utara, there are currently two state seats, which are Kampung Tunku with about 32,000 voters and Damansara Utama with about 50,000 voters.

“This is ideal and a suitable distribution of voters in a parliamentary seat,” he said.

He said the plan to include the Bukit Lanjan state seat in PJ Utara under the proposed redelineation will increase the number of voters to over 151,000.

Ch’ng was present during a local inquiry to hear objections against the Election Commission’s (EC) proposal to alter the boundaries of state and parliamentary seats in PJ Utara and Kampung Tunku in Selangor here.

Under the proposed redelineation, Ch’ng said PJ Utara will be renamed as Damansara with three state seats – Bandar Utama (changed from Damansara Utama), Kampung Tunku and Bukit Lanjan.

“Bukit Lanjan itself is already a very big constituency, much larger than the current PJ Utara parliamentary constituency.

“It will be unfair for the elected representative to take care of such a large area, which will likely become the biggest federal constituency should the exercise go on,” he added.

Ch'ng also pointed out that former EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman had also advised earlier that it was better to have fewer than 100,000 voters in any federal seat.

“PJ Utara MCA agrees with his advice. We strongly feel there should not be too many or too few voters in any constituency,” he said.