{
  "id": 12104236,
  "title": "Minister moots panel to work out Sabah, S’wak federal seat increase",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/minister-moots-panel-to-work-out-sabah-swak-federal-seat-increase-12104236",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-05T07:14:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/10/05/minister-moots-panel-to-work-out-sabah-s-wak-federal-seat-increase"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The minister responsible for Sabah and Sarawak affairs, Mustapha Sakmud, has suggested the formation of a special committee to determine the process for increasing the number of parliamentary seats in the two states. This proposal was put forth during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, in response to a query from Willie Mongin regarding the mechanisms and legislative steps needed to boost the parliamentary representation in Sabah and Sarawak.\n\nThe minister proposed that the committee should be co-chaired by himself and Azalina Othman Said, who is the law and institutional reform minister. The special committee would be responsible for exploring the mechanism to enhance the parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak. This agenda item has been included in the meeting agenda of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) council and its technical committees, as well as in Cabinet discussions.\n\nDuring the meeting, Mustapha also discussed this matter with the Election Commission to gather their views on the next steps. The minister highlighted that discussions pertaining to this issue would continue at subsequent meetings of the MA63 technical committee. Additionally, the minister informed that 13 out of the 26 matters discussed under the MA63 negotiation platform have been resolved, while three are partially resolved, and five remain unresolved. These unresolved issues are currently under review by the prime minister, the Sarawak premier, and the Sabah chief minister.",
  "summary": "Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister Mustapha Sakmud suggests co-chairing the committee with law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Minister moots panel to work out Sabah, S’wak federal seat increase",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/minister-moots-panel-to-work-out-sabah-swak-federal-seat-increase",
        "published": "2026-10-05T07:14:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}