Sarawak awaiting Anwar’s cue for parliamentary seat talks

Sarawak awaiting Anwar’s cue for parliamentary seat talks

PETALING JAYA: Sarawak is waiting for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to begin negotiations on increasing its number of parliamentary seats.

Premier Abang Johari Openg said the state government welcomed Anwar’s statement on Sunday that the federal government has decided to add more parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak ahead of the next general election.

Abang Johari said it is up to the federal government to organise any meeting with its counterparts in Sarawak to discuss increasing the number of parliamentary seats for the state, The Borneo Post reported.

“We thank the prime minister because he has agreed to increase the number of parliamentary seats. Whether (we) can meet the one-third requirement, we will negotiate.

“If he (Anwar) calls us, we will negotiate. If he doesn’t call, we just stay quiet,” he said.

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Sarawak and Sabah currently hold 31 and 25 parliamentary seats, respectively.

On Sunday, Anwar said the federal government had agreed to add more parliamentary seats for Sarawak and Sabah, taking into account the number of voters in both states.

However, he said the increase would still fall short of long-standing demands by the two states to hold one-third of the total number of Dewan Rakyat seats, a target that remains under discussion.

Anwar said the matter had been discussed at the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Implementation Action Council’s technical committee, and that his administration remained committed to increasing the number of seats “according to need”.

He said the Attorney-General’s Chambers, along with the state legal advisers for Sarawak and Sabah, had been tasked with finalising the matter.

Currently, the West Malaysia states take up 75% of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat. This means constitutional amendments, which require a two-thirds majority, can be passed without requiring the support of Sabah and Sarawak MPs.

The last redelineation exercise for federal seats took place in 2006.