By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Aug 16: The allocation of the 17 new Sarawak State Legislative Assembly seats will be decided collectively by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) top component party presidents, and not by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) alone.
PBB Information Chief Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that while PBB remains the dominant party in the ruling coalition, decisions on the new seat allocations must be made fairly among all four GPS component parties—PBB, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
“It’s not for PBB to distribute. The one that manages Sarawak presently is GPS and PBB is just one of the component parties.
“Putting it as if PBB is the one who distributes will not look good also because we are a coalition government,” he remarked.
Abdul Karim added that while PBB’s strength is recognised, fairness must prevail in ensuring other parties have their say.
“Even though we have to admit PBB is the dominant one, but then we have to be fair and listen to the others also. We cannot be dictating everything to the other component parties.
“But the other component parties, the smaller parties also need to be practical,” he told reporters in a doorstep interview after officiating at DayakDaily’s ‘Homestay Odyssey’ Writing Competition Awards Ceremony at the Waterfront Hotel here today.
Abdul Karim, who is also Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, and Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak, revealed that the seat allocation process is usually decided through discussions between the presidents of all four GPS component parties.
“Normally it’s done that way. It will be discussed that way. And this is the one that has been recommended by the Election Commission (EC) on the seats,” he explained.
On how the seats will likely be distributed, Abdul Karim said allocations will be based on the majority population in each constituency.
“So how do we divide it up? Probably the Chinese-majority area will have to go through SUPP. The Malay-majority area will have to go to PBB. More or less like that,” he added.
On July 22, 2025, the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) had passed the law to create 17 new State constituencies, which will only take effect after Parliament gives its approval and the EC completes the delineation process. – DayakDaily
