KUCHING, Oct 18: Sri Aman MP Dato Sri Doris Sophia Brodie has questioned about developments on the proposal to return the one-third parliamentary seats composition to Sarawak and Sabah as stipulated in Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
In the Parliament session yesterday (Oct 17), Doris emphasised that the matter needs to be implemented to be consistent with the spirit of MA63.
She highlighted that when Malaysia was established in 1963, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore were collectively allocated 35 per cent of the total 159 seats at that time.
“This is in line with what was recommended in the 1962 Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report which stated that no region should possess more than two-thirds of the parliamentary seats.
“However, after Singapore left Malaysia in 1965, the 15 seats were not redistributed to Sabah and Sarawak but were instead allocated to Peninsular Malaysia,” she said during the 2024 Budget debate as reported by TVS.
In light of this, Doris sought clarity on the federal government’s action plan, led by Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in addressing and realising this matter.
She noted that this issue had been previously discussed and verified in the Malaysian Special Agreements Council (MKMA63), chaired by former prime minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
“So my question is, what are the follow-up steps of the government led by Tambun in implementing this matter since assurances were made during the Malaysia Day celebration in Kuching, to implement all agendas in MA63?” she asked. — DayakDaily
