KUCHING: It’s about time that Sarawak and Sabah work together to get one-third of the 222 seats in Parliament.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, after hearing the news that Sabah was ready to work with Sarawak to increase the number of Parliament seats for the two Borneo states, said he was glad to hear of the Sabah chief minister’s decision.
“I am happy to note that Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal is willing to work with Sarawak to get the one-third seat allocation for the two eastern states,” he told New Sarawak Tribune today (July 20).
He was commenting on a statement as reported by The Star where Shafie said he agreed with Sarawak that one-third of the Parliament seats should be represented by the two Borneo states.
“It is about time that Sarawak and Sabah work in unity to get what get what are of interests to the two Borneo states.
“Without our participation, Malaysia as a nation would not have existed. Therefore, Malaya must know the historical importance of Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
Masing said it would not be wise to keep both states on the sidelines — ignoring what Sarawak and Sabah have contributed in terms of natural resources to the economic development to Malaysia.
“I am sure that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin understands Sarawak and Sabah’s contributions — both economically and politically.
“I think he will consider our request and we will reciprocate,” he said.
Currently, Sarawak has 31 MPs and Sabah has 25 MPs.
