Election Commission to reveal proposed new, renamed Sarawak state seats on Sept 1

KUCHING, Aug 31 — The names and locations of Sarawak’s 17 proposed new State Legislative Assembly (DUN) constituencies will finally be publicly unveiled by the Election Commission (EC) tomorrow (September 1).

The announcement is eagerly anticipated as it will provide greater clarity on the proposed expansion of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly from 82 to 99 seats, following the redelineation exercise undertaken by the EC.

A notice on the new seats will be published in The Borneo Post and Utusan Borneo tomorrow. Similar notices are also to be displayed at selected locations in each parliamentary constituency in the state.

Apart from the new seats, the EC has proposed renaming several existing seats.

The month-long public display of the list is in accordance with Section 4(b), Part II of the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

It allows for objections or representations with respect to the EC’s proposed recommendations to be made to the Commission within one month after the date of publication of the notice.

Section 5, Part II of the same legislation states that such representations objecting to the proposed recommendations may be made by the state government, any local authority whose area is wholly or partly comprised in the constituencies affected by the recommendations, or a body of 100 or more persons whose names are shown on the current electoral rolls of the constituencies in question.

The proposed increase of 17 seats was approved by the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on July 7, 2025, when it passed the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill 2025.

It was reported that the proposed increase was intended to reflect demographic changes, urban expansion, and the growing demand for equitable representation.

The Bill also noted that the last redelineation exercise in Sarawak was carried out in 2015, whereas population and voter numbers had increased significantly since then. The voting age had also been lowered from 21 to 18 since then.

However, the unveiling of the names will not necessarily mean the 17 seats will be contested in the coming 13th state election, which could be held before the end of this year.

The proposed seats would have to be presented to Parliament for approval and then gazetted before they can be implemented.

The last Sarawak state election was held on December 18, 2021. — The Borneo Post