.JPG "Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal delivers a speech during the launch of the partyu00e2u20acu2122s national chapter at the Sime Darby Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur December 17, 2021. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Firdaus Latif")
TAWAU, March 20 — Parti Warisan (Warisan) supports the suggestion on the number of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak be increased to one-third, or more than 70 seats out of a total of 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, who is also the Sabah Opposition Leader, said the matter was in line with the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and it would be raised at the Sabah state assembly which is set to begin tomorrow.
“In 1963, there were 159 parliamentary seats with one-third of them represented by North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore, this was stated in the Inter-Governmental Committee Report, but when Singapore left Malaysia in 1965, the seats belonging to Singapore should have been given to Sabah and Sarawak.
“Today there are 222 (seats) in Parliament. If you calculate, Sabah has 25 (seats) and Sarawak, 31 (seats) so in all, it’s 56 (parliamentary). Out of 222, the 56 seats for Sabah and Sarawak represents less than one-third,” he said after presenting donations to fire victims in Kampung Kurnia Jaya, Batu 4 here today.
Mohd Shafie was asked to comment on the statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili urging the Sabah and Sarawak state assemblies to debate the proposal to increase the parliamentary seats before it was submitted to the Election Commission (EC).
Mohd Shafie, who is also Semporna MP, said the seat additions would provide a balance of representation in the Dewan Rakyat. — Bernama
