KOTA KINABALU: The Election Commission (EC) should be open to proposals originating from Sabah and Sarawak to increase the number of parliamentary seats for the two Borneo states, said PBS Secretary-General Datuk Julita Majungki.
"The EC must always be seen to be independent and act independently in all actions, so they should not be quick to dismiss ideas from Sabah and Sarawak leaders intended to strengthen the Malaysian parliament," she said in a statement, Monday.
Responding to former Deputy EC Chairman Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Wan Omar over his comment that it was unreasonable to increase the number of parliamentary seats, Majungki stressed that the EC should be open to transformation of the electoral system.
"As a former senior officer of EC, he should respect this spirit of formation of Malaysia for the good of the Malaysian parliament.
"Plus this was the legacy of our founding fathers who did not want Malaya to get more than two-thirds majority to avoid them from passing laws without the support of Sabah and Sarawak."
She added, the Parliamentary Select Committee, which was chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) and PBS President Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili 17 years back, and the Special Council on Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MKMA63) have endorsed the matter.
The Parliamentary Select Committee, formed to improve the parliamentary process in 2005 also listed the proposal as one of 21 recommendations of the committee.
Many of the recommendations have since been adopted by the EC, including the reduction in voting age, anti-hop law, and political funding, to mention some.
"Based on records of discussions by the Malaysian Federation founding fathers, it was their political desire that the parliamentary seats for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore combined would be over one-third in total to ensure a balanced representation was provided for the three regions of the Borneo states and Singapore.
"This was to ensure that no laws could be passed by Malaya without the support of the non-Malaya components of the Federation," she said.
The Assistant Community Development and People's Wellbeing Minister added that these aspirations of the founding fathers must be acknowledged and respected.
