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Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is standing firm with Sarawak on the demand for one third share of Parliament seats as  the additional seats would help the state progress, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said that they had brought the matter up with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) implementation action council meeting last September 12 here.

“We also have to look at our constituencies, where they lie and how to balance the areas. This is the process whenever we introduce a new Parliamentary amendment, and how we make sure our interests are protected,” said Hajiji.

“We also do need additional seats. We are a big state. But to make new constituencies, there is a lot to look at, including the population. Can’t have 20,000 people only in one constituency, right? That’s just one example,” he said.

Hajiji said that along with Sarawak, they have discussed the matter at two levels, including the most recent meeting last month. 

“We will continue to engage with the federal government. But this is one of the conditions in place in the MA63 agreement when Malaysia was formed and we have made our intentions clear to the Prime Minister,” he said.

Hajiji declined to elaborate on how many seats were requested, only to say that it would fulfil the two-third requirements in the 222 seat Dewan Rakyat.

When Malaysia was formed, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore made up one-third of the seats in Parliament.

But when Singapore pulled out, its 19 seats were taken by Malaya instead of being given equally to the Borneo territories.

Currently, Sabah and Sarawak together have 56 out of the total of 222 seats in Parliament or 25 per cent.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg was reported saying that not giving Sabah and Sarawak its one third share was akin to trying to nullify the provisions of the MA63.

He said the ratio would ensure that the non-Malayan states had veto power in the Dewan Rakyat.