By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 10: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) has slammed speculation that 10 out of the 17 newly created Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) seats will be allocated to Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), warning that the redelineation exercise must not become a tool to entrench political hegemony.
PBDS president Major (R) Moses Ripai said that while the party welcomes the increase in DUS seats from 82 to 99 under the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill 2025, it strongly questions the fairness of the distribution if the majority of new constituencies are politically skewed.
“If the government can redraw boundaries on paper, then it must also redraw its priorities for the people, especially those in rural Sarawak who have long been forgotten,” he said in a recent statement.
He was referring to a recent report by FMT, which claimed that PBB is expected to gain 10 out of the 17 new seats, including seven in Malay-majority areas and three in Melanau-majority constituencies, following the passing of the Bill last Monday (July 7) to increase the number of State seats from the current 82 to 99.
The seven remaining new seats will reportedly be allocated to three other Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) members—namely Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), which will receive one seat in a Chinese-majority area and two in mixed Chinese-Iban areas; Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), which will be allocated two seats, both in Iban-majority areas; and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), which will get two seats—one in a Bidayuh-majority constituency and the other in an Orang Ulu-majority area.
Moses warned that without meaningful rural development and a complete overhaul of constituency funding policies, the seat expansion exercise risks being “political cosmetic surgery”.
“It looks like change, but nothing reaches the bones of the people. What Sarawak needs is not more control by one party, but more justice, more equity, and real transformation,” he added.
Moses also drew attention to what he described as structural unfairness in the allocation of Minor Rural Project (MRP) and Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) funds.
As stated in the 2024 Sarawak Budget, each GPS assemblyman receives RM2 million in MRP and RM5 million in RTP annually, regardless of constituency size, population, or geographical challenges.
Responding to this, Moses said that the one-size-fits-all approach is a major disadvantage to rural and interior constituencies.
He cited the Satok constituency in central Kuching, which spans only about 10 square kilometres (km²) and is well-served with roads, clinics, and schools. Yet it receives the same funding as rural constituencies like Telang Usan (10,000km²), Belaga (19,400km²), Pelagus, Meruan, Dudong, and Tamin—where logistics are harsh, road access is poor, and rivers remain the main transport routes.
“You cannot give the same budget to Satok and to Telang Usan, just as you cannot give the same pair of shoes to a child and a giant. It is not equality—it is negligence,” he stressed.
He also highlighted rural Dayak-majority constituencies in the Sri Aman and Serian divisions, including Lingga, Balai Ringin, Bukit Begunan, Tarat, Kedup, and Tebedu, as areas with hilly terrain and struggling infrastructure that continue to be overlooked despite genuine development needs.
To address these disparities, PBDS is calling for an urgent review of the MRP and RTP allocation system based on transparent, measurable indicators, such as constituency land size, population, number of longhouses or kampungs, road and utility access, and rural logistics costs.
Moses acknowledged the government’s efforts to channel development, such as through the 27 RTP projects approved for Betong Division in 2026, but urged a similar focus for Kapit, Hulu Rajang, Sri Aman, and Serian, where the development gap is wider.
“The Dayak people have waited too long for a fair share of this land we helped build. This time, we are not asking—we are rising,” Moses declared. — DayakDaily
