PENAMPANG: The need for one-third parliament seats for Sabah and Sarawak is long overdue and must be rectified, said United Kinabalu Progressive Organisation (Upko) President Datuk Ewon Benedick.
He said the demand to correct the composition of seats in the Dewan Rakyat has been delayed for too long since Singapore left the Federation in 1965.
“During discussion to establish Malaysia, there were several demands from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. This was clearly stated in the report of the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) that the composition of the Parliament seats should give one-third to states or regions other than the peninsular or Malaya, at that time.
“When Singapore left, the composition of the Parliament seats should remain the same, but unfortunately it was changed and gave an advantage to Semenanjung (peninsula) until now,” he said.
Sabah has 25 parliamentary seats while Sarawak has 31 parliamentary seats.
However, Ewon did not elaborate whether he meant Sabah and Sarawak should each be entitled to one-third of the 222 seats in parliament (148) or both states should jointly account for one third of this amount (74). Both states now only account for 56 seats.
Ewon said this after officiating the Upko Zone C Convention (Upko Putatan, Upko Kota Kinabalu and Upko Penampang) at the Penampang Cultural Center hall, Sunday.
With the support of political parties from Sabah and Sarawak, he said the composition of the Parliament seats can be re-corrected.
“It certainly requires an amendment in the Federal Constitution and an amendment to the electoral boundaries. We do not want any constitutional amendment to benefit the peninsula only because this country would not exist without Sabah and Sarawak.
“We need to correct what was started in 1963 but which was changed after Singapore left Malaysia,” he said.
Ewon said he was made to understand that there have been discussions between Sabah and Sarawak on this matter.
“I also support the Premier of Sarawak (Tan Sri Abang Johari Abang Openg) in this matter whose party has firmly passed a resolution demanding one-third of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat for Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
Ewon who is a member of the Special Action Council for the Implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and a member of the Technical Committee of the Action Council for the Implementation of the MA63 said one of the agendas discussed was one-third of seats in the Parliament for the two states.
Ewon who is Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives said the process of re-delineating electoral areas in Sabah would start in 2025 as every eight years, the Election Commission (EC) would propose re-delineating election boundaries including new areas.
