KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Wednesday tabled a redelineated electoral map to the Parliament, amid fierce protests from the opposition that the map, which saw a large portion of the electoral districts changed, is in favor of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
Among the 222 seats listed in the report by the Malaysian Election Commission, only constituencies in the northern state of Perlis and Putrajaya, the Malaysian administrative capital, remained unchanged.
The boundaries of many constituencies were redrawn to change the number of voters. For instance, the constituency in Sungai Buloh will see a reduction of voters from 128,000 to 73,000, according to a report from the Star newspaper.
Hundreds of protesters, including Mahathir Mohamad, a former Prime Minister-turned opposition leader, gathered outside the Parliament in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, calling for the redelineated maps to be withdrawn.
A heavy police presence, including riot police, were also seen outside the parliament.
The tenure of the current Parliament will end by June and it is widely expected that Najib will call an election in the next few weeks.