Bersih proposes open debate on one-third Borneo seats demand

Bersih proposes open debate on one-third Borneo seats demand

PETALING JAYA: Electoral watchdog Bersih has called for a national dialogue and an open debate by two prominent intellectuals on calls for one-third of parliamentary seats to be reserved for Sarawak and Sabah.

The debate should be between political analysts Wong Chin Huat and James Chin, who “hold contrasting views but ultimately share a similar goal of upholding the rights of Sabah and Sarawak as envisioned in the Malaysia Agreement 1963”, Bersih said.

The reform group said there should be discussions on the provisions of the Malaysia Agreement, particularly the percentage of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak and about veto power for Sabah and Sarawak over constitutional amendments that could erode their rights.

Last month, political analyst Chin, a professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania, said Sabah and Sarawak should insist on being allocated a third of seats in both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara.

Wong, a political scientist with Sunway University, said that instead of pushing for a one-third quota of Dewan Rakyat seats, it would be better to demand an expanded 100-seat Dewan Negara with 17 elected senators each from Sabah and Sarawak, who with another senator from Labuan, would form a 35% veto bloc.

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Bersih’s call for a dialogue and debate comes in the wake of a recent roadshow on reforms it said had drawn nearly 150 participants from over 20 organisations and political parties in Sarawak.

The roadshow featured a youth empowerment workshop, an electoral constituency redelineation workshop, and a public forum on “Veto Power for East Malaysia: Dewan Rakyat or Dewan Negara”.

Bersih said it has also met with the deputy minister in the Sarawak premier’s department, Sharifah Hasidah, to submit a memorandum to the Sarawak government calling for one-third of parliamentary seats and election-related issues.

Among the proposals discussed was facilitating voting for Sarawakians working and studying in Peninsular Malaysia by granting them the right to either early voting or postal voting.

Another proposal was to address the issue of unequal electoral constituency distribution, as it said Sarawak is the second state with the highest rate of malapportionment in Malaysia after Selangor.