Pledge on more Parliament seats must be followed by action, says Sarawak minister

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s agreement in principle to increase the number of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak must be acted upon, says a state minister.

Sarawak tourism, creative industry and performing arts minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said Putrajaya must ensure the proposal does not remain merely a statement of intent, but results in actual changes to parliamentary representation.

“The prime minister’s views must be followed through with concrete action,” Karim, who is also the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) information chief, said in a statement.

“Efforts must be made to address this and finally give Sabahans and Sarawakians the hope that this is not merely the prime minister’s view, but something that will actually be implemented.”

Anwar said earlier today the Federal Constitution would be amended to allow for an increase in parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak, in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

He said the increase was necessary to ensure greater representation for the two states in Parliament, although Putrajaya has yet to set a specific figure.

Karim said Anwar’s position reflected the spirit behind the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and the safeguards that Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore agreed to, including the parliamentary representation arrangement that gave the Borneo states and Singapore roughly one-third of the seats in Parliament.

When Malaysia was formed in 1963, Malaya was allocated 105 of the 160 seats in the Dewan Rakyat (representing 65% of the voting power in the House), with Sarawak holding 24 seats, Sabah 16, and Singapore 15.

This denied Malaya the two-thirds majority required to amend the Federal Constitution. However, after Singapore’s departure, its 15 seats were not redistributed to Sabah and Sarawak, causing the Bornean states to lose their veto power.

Sabah (25 seats) and Sarawak (31 seats) currently hold a combined total of 56 parliamentary seats (25.2%) out of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, which is 18 seats shy of achieving the requested one-third (74 seats) proportion.

Karim said previous leaders had brushed aside the issue, arguing that the arrangement had never been formally written or specifically stated in the Federal Constitution.

“Thank you, Anwar, for being able to understand what many MPs from West Malaysia, as well as prime ministers before you, could not see or chose not to see,” he said.

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