EC denies report of 15 more parliamentary seats for Sarawak

EC secretary Khairul Shahril Idrus said the report quoting a document titled “Proposed Redelineation of Sarawak Electoral Constituencies” that said the number of parliamentary constituencies in the state would be increased by 15, was not true.

“The EC wishes to stress that there are currently no proposals to increase the number of parliamentary constituencies in Sarawak involving any constituencies, as alleged by the report, in reference to discussions on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he said in a statement.

Khairul said only the seventh Sarawak state constituency review and redelineation proposal had been prepared, and was currently on public display from Sept 1 to 30.

Earlier, Berita Harian reported that the redelineation of electoral constituencies in Sarawak was expected to result in an additional 15 parliamentary seats, ensuring that Sarawak and Sabah collectively account for one-third of representation in the Dewan Rakyat.

The Dewan Rakyat has 222 seats, comprising 166 seats in Peninsular Malaysia and 56 in Sabah and Sarawak – 31 in Sarawak and 25 in Sabah.

That represents only 25% of the total, compared with 74 parliamentary seats that would be required to make up one-third of the Dewan Rakyat.

An additional 18 seats would be required for the two states to reach the one-third figure.