Ruling and opposition parties failed to meet the legal deadline to redraw the electoral map Friday, causing trouble for political candidates planning to debut in next year’s general election. Talks on redrawing constituencies are likely to drag into next year due to the rival parties’ disagreements on whether to decrease the number of those elected under proportional representation. With four weeks before preliminary candidate registration on Dec. 15, potential newcomers may be put at a disadvantage in launching their campaigns, say critics. They are expected to have difficulty choosing their constituencies because they will not be sure where they should register for the election, scheduled for April 13, 2016.
Even if they register their candidacies in existing constituencies and start campaigns, their candidacies will be invalid when the current electoral map becomes null and void at the end of the year.
The Constitutional Court ruled last year that the electoral boundaries should be redrawn to tackle unequal representation and the ratio of the most populous electoral districts to the least populous must be lower than two to one. The court also ruled that the validity of the current constituency boundary will expire on Dec. 31.
With no legal candidacy, candidates will have to stop launching campaigns from next year, including running the election office, distributing leaflets and raising funds.
Full Article: Failed redistricting causes confusion for political newcomers.
