By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 27: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government’s push to increase Sarawak’s parliamentary seats without restricting Malayan political parties and candidates from contesting here could be like “inviting a rope on our necks”, warned Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.
He said while the Sarawak government under GPS has been pressuring Putrajaya to raise the State’s representation in Parliament to reflect the original Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) spirit, the move carries grave risks if constitutional loopholes are not closed.
Under the current Federal Constitution, Voon highlighted that Malaysians from Peninsular Malaysia are eligible to contest parliamentary seats in Sarawak, provided they meet the basic candidate qualifications under Article 47 and are not disqualified under Article 48.
“The law does not impose a residency requirement on candidates for parliamentary elections, allowing any Malaysian citizen to stand for election anywhere in the country. Without explicit prohibition in the constitution, Malayan political parties can always find it easy to come to Sarawak,” he said in a statement today.
Voon noted that Peninsula-based parties such as Democratic Action Party (DAP), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) have long fielded candidates in Sarawak, with some successfully winning seats.
He cautioned that without constitutional safeguards, the issue could spill over into State politics.
“At present, State laws require a candidate for the Sarawak Legislative Assembly to be a Malaysian citizen and a resident of Sarawak. But what will happen if one day political parties from Malaya win enough seats to amend the Sarawak Constitution to open the floodgates further? That would allow Malayans to contest state seats more freely, and Sarawak’s legislature could fall under Malayan control,” he said.
According to Voon, loopholes already exist within the Sarawak Constitution. Article 44 defines “citizens” as citizens of the federation, which includes Malayans and Sabahans, while Article 16 requires candidates to be residents.
“Residency is another big loophole. With it, Malayans can contest and potentially capture the Sarawak government. This is something Sarawakians must stop,” he urged.
Voon stressed that when Malaysia was formed, Sarawakians never intended for Malayans to dominate the state legislature.
“But a day will come when this may happen if the loopholes in the law are not covered,” he warned, adding that the 2000 amendment of the Sarawak Constitution failed to anticipate such risks.
He noted that the rationale for increasing parliamentary seats was to ensure Malaya does not dominate the federal Parliament, pointing out that after Singapore’s exit from Malaysia, all its parliamentary seats should have been allocated to Sarawak and Sabah so both regions could hold 35 per cent representation. Instead, all seats allocated to Singapore were taken by Malaya. — DayakDaily
