KUCHING: The Unity Government has been urged to promptly increase the number of parliamentary seats for Sarawak and Sabah.
Senator Pele Peter Tinggom said with the addition of parliamentary seats in the two regions, economic growth will undoubtedly be accelerated through allocations provided to these parliamentary constituencies. This would further enhance the administrative machinery and implementation of government development agendas in those areas.
“The Baram parliamentary constituency under Datuk Anyie Ngau is as vast as the state of Pahang.
“Similarly, the Ulu Rejang parliamentary constituency under Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong is almost as large as the state of Pahang.
“If these parliamentary constituencies and others of similar size, such as the Saratok parliamentary constituency, are divided and expanded, planned infrastructure and economic development will reach the residents of these areas more quickly than they currently do,” he said when debating the 2024 Royal Address at the Dewan Negara on Tuesday.
In 1963, he said, the allocation of parliamentary seats for Sarawak, Sabah, including Singapore was 34.59 per cent.
“The aspiration of Sarawak’s leaders at that time to ensure that the quota of parliamentary seats for Sarawak and Sabah, including Singapore, is not less than one-third was an important understanding in the formation of Malaysia.
“Therefore, the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGC), the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), and the Federal Constitution (FC) have provided for the ‘safeguarding provisions’ where matters related to the quota of parliamentary seats for the regions of Sarawak and Sabah cannot be equivalent with the states of Malaya, and any amendments to the Federal Constitution involving the allocation of parliamentary seats must obtain the approval of both Sarawak and Sabah,” he said.
He noted that the allocation of parliamentary seats in 1963 was 16 seats for Johor; Kedah (12); Kelantan (10); Melaka (4); Negeri Sembilan (6); Pahang (6); Penang (8); Perak (20); Perlis (2); Selangor (14); Terengganu (6); Sarawak and Sabah (40).
“Since the re-delineation carried out in 1974, the number of seats in the House of Representatives has begun to change and is no longer in accordance with the composition agreed upon during the formation of Malaysia in 1963, where the parliamentary seats allocated to regions other than the states in Malaya should not be less than 34.59 per cent of all parliamentary seats.
“It is time for the unity government, supported by Sarawak and Sabah with a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, to promptly conduct this re-delineation to correct what is necessary for balanced prosperity as provided by the FC and the MA63 Agreement,” said Pele.
