Govt begins talks with EC on more Dewan Rakyat seats for Sabah, Sarawak

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Federal Government has initiated preliminary discussions with the Election Commission (EC) to potentially expand the number of Dewan Rakyat seats for the states of Sabah and Sarawak. This proposal comes in response to growing calls for greater representation of these two states in the Malaysian parliament.

Datuk Mustapha Sakmud, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Sabah and Sarawak, disclosed that he has been conversing with the EC to gather necessary insights and determine the subsequent actions required. Mustapha also put forward a suggestion to establish a specialized committee under the technical committee to meticulously outline the process of implementing the proposed increase.

He opined that the committee could potentially be co-chaired by the Law Minister and himself, though these are still initial dialogues. The Minister's remarks were made in the Dewan Rakyat in response to a supplementary question raised by Datuk Willie anak Mongin (GPS-Puncak Borneo) on the matter of Sabah and Sarawak deserving a minimum of 35% of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

Mustapha underscored that this proposal has been deliberated upon at various gatherings of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council (MTP MA63), its technical committee, and the Cabinet. He affirmed that the topic will continue to be discussed and closely monitored at the forthcoming meeting of the technical committee under MTP MA63.