KUCHING, March 24 ― Perikatan Nasional (PN) Sarawak chairman Senator Jaziri Alkaf Abdillah Suffian supports the proposal to increase parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak to balance distribution of seats in Parliament.
In a statement, he said he had suggested at the Dewan Negara sitting yesterday for the boundaries of Sabah and Sarawak parliamentary constituencies be redelineated soon.
He said in his debate of motion of thanks for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s address, he said opportunity should be given to Sabah and Sarawak to have more parliamentary seats in the near future.
“The purpose to implement this (redelineation) is to make the seat composition for the two states more balanced. It must be implemented in line with efforts to protect the privileges and in recognition of Sabah and Sarawak as ‘equal partners’ in building Malaysia.
“I also suggest that at least 30 more seats be added for the two states, thus enabling the quota of meeting one-third seats composition in Parliament.”
Out of a total 222 parliamentary seats, Sabah has 25 and Sarawak 31.
He added that several parliamentary constituencies in Sabah and Sarawak cover very large area, thus making it impossible to implement development projects in a balanced manner.
He also hoped that such a motion, if tabled, would get full support from lawmakers as what happened in the previous Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara sessions, which unanimously passed a Bill to amend the Constitution related to the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had said on March 13 that the proposed redelineation exercise to add parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak must be carried out through a proper legal process.
Wan Junaidi, who is also Santubong MP, said the matter must follow the process as contained in Article 113 of the Federal Constitution, which stated that any review or study on redelineation exercise could only be done once every eight years.
“The last redelineation exercise for Sarawak was in 2015 and Sabah in 2017.
“It means for Sarawak, if we want to see additional parliamentary seats, it will only happen in 2023.” ― Borneo Post
