PSB northern region calls for additional 40 seats in Parliament for Sarawak, Sabah

Datuk Lawrence Lai

MIRI (Sept 10): Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) has called upon Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to initiate a constitutional amendment in Parliament to fast-track the creation of additional 40 seats to Sarawak and Sabah by the Election Commission (EC).

Such a move would be supported by all MPs from the two east Malaysian states, said Datuk Lawrence Lai, who is PSB’s election preparation chief for the northern region.

“The endorsement is a good start, but it would mean nothing and become just an election gimmick without a deadline given as the prime minister can instruct the EC to implement this,” he said.

He said it was a clear and obvious case of implementing the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) that Sabah and Sarawak should have one-third representation in Parliament, and further engagement on the subject was unnecessary as it had been overdue since 1965.

Lai was responding to Bernama’s report quoting Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili as saying the Thursday’s meeting of Special Council on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement endorsed the return of 35 per cent of the 222 parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak – in other words, 78 of the 222 seats in Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister yesterday gave the assurance of reviewing the representation from Sarawak and Sabah in Parliament and confirmed that this was among the issues raised in a meeting of the Special Council on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement on Thursday.

Under the Malaysian Constitution, election boundaries can only be redrawn in a delineation exercise eight years after the previous exercise.

Lai said a constitution amendment for a third of seats in Parliament for both states would compel the EC to comply without any further delay, and would reflect meaningful representation of the two Borneo states in Parliament.

Peninsular Malaysia currently controls 75 per cent or 166 of the parliamentary seats out of 222, which is more than two-thirds.

Lai said as a Sarawakian, he wholeheartedly supported the endorsement as the way forward, but said it must not be mere window-dressing or an appetiser for the next general election.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3xdrCbs
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