24.09.2018 STATEMENT OF HON. XAVIER-LUC DUVAL LEADER OF OPPOSITION AND LEADER OF PMSD Ladies and Gentlemen, 5) I wish to thank the Commission for agreeing to meet us this afternoon. We have sought to meet you formally in view of the importance of the work of the Commission with regards to the electoral process. We are aware of the very onerous responsibilities placed upon your shoulders by Section 39 of our Constitution. We are of the opinion that the delimitation of our electoral boundaries plays a determining role in our democratic system and inappropriate electoral boundaries inevitably distort our election results. This is precisely why our Constitution has devoted Section 39 to this issue and has sought to create this august Commission to ensure fairness and equity in the delimitation process. Dr Lisa Handley, in her article called “Challenging the Norms and Standards of Election Administration 2007, clearly stipulated, and I quote: i “Different sets of electoral districts can produce different election outcomes, even if the underlying vote patterns are identical”. The Commission may have read in the press my recent strong objection in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition to a known political activist, one Mrs Sharmila Sonah- Ori, being appointed, inter-alia, to the Electoral Boundaries Commission. This was supported by all opposition parties, given that the Electoral Boundaries Commission should remain free from political influence. Therefore, what is the precise role of the Electoral Boundaries Commission? This is set out in Section 39 of our Constitution, and more precisely under subsections (2) & (3) which is the subject of my statement today and I quote i "The report of the Electoral Boundaries Commission shall make recommendations for any alterations to the boundaries of the constituencies as appear to the Commission to be required so that number of inhabitants of each constituency is as nearly equal as is reasonably practicable to the population quota. Provided that the number of inhabitants of a constituency may begreater or less than the population quota in order to take account of means of communication, geographical features, density of population and the boundaries of administrative areas.” 7. Section 39(5) of our Constitution reads as follows, and I quote: i. “In this section “population quota” means the number obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants according to the latest official census by 20.” 8. The principle of equity is a central premise of electoral systems. | wish to refer to an article written by Mr. Abdul Alim, Director of the Election Working Group, in an article entitled “For a fairer electoral process’, which 1 am producing. I quote: i, “Equality of voting strength is the most fundamental principle for delimitation. The population of constituencies should be as equal as possible to provide voters with equality of voting strength. The establishment of a population deviation tolerance limit helps guarantee equality.” 9. Furthermore, the European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), in its report of 12 December 2017, mentions that, and I quot. i “Equal voting power is a crucial element of parliamentary democracy. Combined with proper electoral districting, it ensures that electors’ votes have equal weight. In Anglo-Saxon electoral systems this is known as the principle of equal votes of equal value.” 10.The above highlights one crucial and overriding principle when carrying out delimitation of constituencies in that democracy and fairness are hampered when the number of electors in different Constituencies vary substantially. Voters in smaller Constituencies have greater weight and the reverse is true for voters in larger constituencies where votes are diluted, 11. Furthermore, the report of the European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), also mentions that, and I quote: i. "Proportionally equal populous districts allow voters to have an equally weighted vote in the election of representatives. If, for instance, in a uninominal system, a representative is elected from a district that has twice as many voters compared to another district, the voters in the larger district will have half the influence of voters in the smaller district. This violates the essence of the universal principle of electoral democracy that all votes must have equal weight. In a system with multi-member constituencies, twice as populous districts should have twice as more representatives.” 12. It is clear therefore that internationally it is accepted that in order to achieve a fair election, the number of electors in each constituency be as far as possible be equal. Table A below sets out the accepted deviations overseas. nO 2TableA ening Geer UK, New Zealand, Albania 5% USA’ State and local Distriet | 10% USA’ Congressional District | None. As nearly as practicable ‘Australia, Italy All 10% Germany All 15% ‘Singapore All 30% 13.In Mauritius Section 39(3) of our Constitution merely sets out that the main responsibility of your Commission is to ensure and I quote: i, “that number of inhabitants of each constituency is as nearly equal as is reasonably practicable" 14. This requires the Commission to do everything that is possible in practice and make a good-faith effort to equate number of electors in each constituency, which is achieved through the use of number of residents or inhabitants as a proxy. 15. Has the Commission effectively done everything that is practicable to ensure that the number of inhabitants of each constituency is as nearly equal as practicable? NO. 16. The table B below sets out the current situation constituency-wise. we