KUCHING: The increment of Parliament seats to 35 per cent will not help Sabah and Sarawak to overturn any laws and policies passed by Parliament and the Federal Cabinet.
In stating this, Parti Bumi Kenyalang president Voon Lee Shan opined that the Sarawak government should reject the proposal made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He added that the 35 per cent of the whole of 222 seats in Parliament today was not something that East Malaysia should be happy with.
“If we are talking about partnership, it could not be an unequal partnership if Malaysia wants to see progress and harmony in the future.
“The announcement by the prime minister of increment of seats for Sabah and Sarawak is seen as an ‘election carrot’ to fish for votes by the Prime Minister to support his government.
“This is because as it is at the moment, we can see Sarawak and Sabah are still short changed. With political parties from Malaya setting foot here, the voice of Sabah and Sarawak has become dimmer and dimmer over the years,” he said in a statement yesterday (Sept 9).
Voon also pointed out that Sarawak and Sabah were promised equal partnership before Malaysia was formed but for 59 years, Sabah and Sarawak had been short changed by the federation of Malaya.
“As we can see, at the moment Sabah has 25 seats and Sarawak has 31 seats in Parliament. Their combined strength cannot overturn any laws and policies passed.
“Besides Malaya controlling the Parliament, the Cabinet is also controlled by Malaya. Most Cabinet ministers are from Malaya.
“Ministers from Sabah and Sarawak are only holding the less important posts,” he stressed.
