Jawatankuasa khas perlu kaji tambah kerusi Sabah, Sarawak, kata menteri

Mustapha Sakmud, the Minister of Prime Minister's Department for Sabah and Sarawak, has revealed that a special committee under the Malaysian Treaty Implementation Committee (MTP) 1963 must be established to assess the proposal of increasing the number of representatives from Sabah and Sarawak in the Dewan Rakyat. The committee is also expected to determine the timeline for its implementation.

The committee will include representatives from the Election Commission, Legal Affairs Division, and the Sabah and Sarawak State Council, as well as the state government representatives. "With this approach, we hope to be able to outline the timeline related to the addition of parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak," Mustapha said, speaking to reporters following his book launch at the Sabah International Convention Centre here today.

On Monday, both the Legal Affairs Division and the Prime Minister's Department initiated discussions with the Election Commission to discuss the objectives and implementation mechanism of the proposal to increase the number of Dewan Rakyat representatives from Sabah and Sarawak. Mustapha stated that the discussions with the Election Commission are still in the early stages to gather insight on the methods and research required to boost the number of Dewan Rakyat seats in both states.

"The outcome of the meeting, the Election Commission informed us of the specific methods they have, but a detailed study is needed as the addition of Dewan Rakyat seats in Borneo needs to take into account the ratio of additional Dewan Rakyat seats on the mainland," he added. On September 11, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the government's agreement to increase the ratio of representation for Sabah and Sarawak's parliamentary representatives, in line with the spirit of MA63.