By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, May 23: Sarawak and Sabah may be allocated additional 25 parliamentary seats to allow the two Bornean States to safeguard their rights enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) information chief Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said Sarawak has been negotiating for one-third of the total parliamentary seats, to reflect the spirit and understanding when Sarawak and Sabah joined Malaya and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia.
“The kind of number is one that was more or less agreed when we formed Malaysia, to what we call “safeguard the rights of Sabah and Sarawak”. These safeguards amount to about one third of the seats in Parliament,” Abdul Karim told DayakDaily.
He said that following Singapore’s exit from the Federation, the 15 seats held by the island nation were taken by Malaya, resulting in disproportionate representation of Sarawak and Sabah in Parliament.
After 1965, despite a series of delineation exercises, the rights to rightful representation in Parliament were forgotten, mainly due to the two Bornean States working closely together with the parties in Malaya through the national coalition of Barisan Nasional.
“There was a complacency. Then when Tok Nan (late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem) came in (became the Chief Minister of Sarawak), the demand for rights, including the safeguards, started to emerge. So now we are asking for those seats,” said Abdul Karim who is Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, as well as Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister.
Currently, there are 222 parliamentary seats. The two Bornean States hold a sum of 56 seats, making up 25 per cent of the total, with Sarawak being allocated 31 seats and Sabah, 25.
In order for Sarawak and Sabah to have one-third representation, or 74 seats, the Federal Constitution needs to be amended. For that to happen, a two-thirds majority in Parliament is required.
“The MPs from Peninsular Malaysia must be make known about it, or they will object. So we need to make them understanding the spirit of MA63 and the IGC (Inter-governmental Committee) Report.
“There is another way to look at it, including legal aspects, meaning to bring it up to the court, but that should be the last resort,” said Abdul Karim who believed that the request of an additional 25 seats for Sarawak and Sabah would not be a problem provided the Peninsular Malaysian MPs understand the historical background.
He predicted that his constituency, Asajaya, may be affected by the upcoming redelineation exercise and expressed his support.
“I was made to understand that it may be affected. I would be very happy to see (it happen), because if it is affected, it will be for the better as new developments are underway especially when the new airport and the deep sea port will be all in under my area,” said Abdul Karim. — DayakDaily
