By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 19: Senator Pele Peter Tinggom has stated that the unity government supported by Sarawak and Sabah, which holds a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat, should be redelineated as soon as possible.
Peter emphasised the need to correct what is appropriate for balanced prosperity, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
He also noted that the distribution of parliamentary seats to Sarawak and Sabah is important because it will stimulate economic growth through the allocation given to the parliamentary constituencies, while the administrative and implementation machinery for the government’s development agenda will be more organised and focused.
“Imagine the parliamentary constituency under Member of Parliament Datuk Anyi Ngau which is P220 Baram, it is as large as the state of Pahang. Likewise for the parliamentary constituency under Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong, which is P216 Hulu Rajang, which is almost as big as the state of Pahang.
“If parliamentary constituencies like this including other constituencies are divided (areas) and added (parliamentary seats), the planned infrastructure and economic development will reach the people’s doors directly and even faster than the current situation,” he said when debating the ‘Usul Menjunjung Kasih Titah Diraja’ in the Dewan Negara in Kuala Lumpur today.
According to him, the allocation of seats for Sarawak and Sabah, which should not be less than one-third of the total seats in Parliament, played a crucial role in the formation of Malaysia.
The senator stated that as a result, the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report, Malaysia Agreement 1963, and Federal Constitution have provided ‘safeguarding provisions’ in which matters related to the Dewan Rakyat quota for the regions of Sarawak and Sabah cannot be equated with the Malayan states and any amendment to the Federal Constitution involving the Parliamentary seats quota must be approved by both Sarawak and Sabah.
“Since the redelineation was made in 1974, the number of Dewan Rakyat seats has changed and is not like the composition agreed upon during the growth of Malaysia in 1963 where the Parliament seats allocated to regions other than the states of Malaya should not be less than 34.59 per cent of all parliamentary seats,” he added. — DayakDaily
