Malaysia’s plan to redraw electoral boundaries protested

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Scores of activists protested Wednesday outside Malaysia’s parliament against the government’s plan to redraw electoral boundaries that is expected to favor the ruling coalition in general elections to be held soon.

Embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to seek parliamentary approval Wednesday for the new voting maps, which critics said will worsen inequality among the constituencies and etch them based on racial lines.

Yellow-shirt activists and opposition leaders marched from a nearby park but were blocked from entering Parliament by anti-riot police. Chanting “Long live the people” and “catch the thief,” they called for the plan to be withdrawn until legal challenges are cleared in court.

Activists say the changes will mean a ruling party candidate will need fewer votes than an opposition lawmaker to win elections under the country’s “first-past-the-post” system.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who now heads the opposition alliance, called Najib a “monster” and a “rogue.” ‘’These coming elections will most certainly not be clean,” he told the rally in a brief speech.

Support for the National Front coalition has dwindled in the last two elections. In 2013, it lost the popular vote for the first time to the opposition. Najib has been dogged by a multibillion-dollar financial scandal and is under pressure to improve his coalition’s performance.

Bridget Welsh, political science professor at John Cabot University, said the new plan could affect at least of third of the 222 parliamentary seats and six of the 13 state assemblies. It could potentially help Najib’s coalition, which now holds 132 parliamentary seats, win back a two-third majority in parliament, she said.

“The delineation exercise reflects the deep-seated insecurity of the Najib government and the cowardly pattern by the prime minister to use his executive powers to stay in office,” she said. “The government has adopted new practices of packing and cracking, stuffing seats and breaking up areas with support for the opposition.”

Elections due by August but widely expected in the next few weeks will pit Najib against the opposition coalition led by Mahathir, who served for 21 years before he stepped down in 2003.

Mahathir made a high-profile comeback to politics two years ago to oust Najib, who has clung to power despite a corruption scandal that involved hundreds of millions of dollars passing through his bank accounts.

The U.S. and several other countries are investigating allegations of cross-border embezzlement and money laundering at 1MDB, which was set up and previously led by Najib to promote economic development, but which accumulated billions in debt. The U.S. Justice Department says at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by associates of Najib, and it is working to seize $1.7 billion taken from the fund to buy assets in the U.S., potentially its largest asset seizure ever.

Najib, who denies any wrongdoing, has fired critics in his government and muzzled the media since the scandal erupted three years ago. Analysts say Najib is expected to win a third term due to infighting in the opposition, the unfavorable electoral boundary changes and strong support for the government among rural ethnic Malays.

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