EC has final say on location of Sarawak’s 17 proposed new DUN seats, says Abd Karim

KUCHING (March 12): The Election Commission (EC) will ultimately determine where the proposed 17 new Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) constituencies are located, said Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah amid rumours surrounding the redelineation process.

The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Information chief said while the Sarawak government had proposed the increase, the EC would have the final authority to identify the exact areas once Parliament endorses the constitutional amendment.

“The proposal for the increase of the number of seats in the Sarawak DUN comes from the state.

“It is felt that with the size of Sarawak, which is almost as big as West Malaysia, it deserves to be looked after by more wakil-wakil rakyat,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted.

Abdul Karim explained that Sarawak currently has 82 assemblymen (ADUNs), and the proposed 17 additional seats would bring the total to 99.

“If one were to total up the number of ADUNs in the whole of West Malaysia, the number is huge.

“Sarawak, with almost the same land size, presently has only 82 ADUNs, and we are just asking for 17 more to make it 99, to make Sarawak be better served,” he said.

He emphasised that the location of the new seats is solely the responsibility of the EC.

“Where these 17 new seats are, that’s for SPR (EC) to identify and locate,” he said.

His remarks come amid online claims that the new constituencies have already been pre-identified, with alleged presentations circulating that outline proposed boundaries, constituency names, and potential allocations to parties within the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition.

Critics, including civil society groups, have warned that such documents, if genuine, could undermine the independence of the redelineation exercise, which is legally mandated to be conducted by the EC.

Responding to the speculation, Abdul Karim described rumours that the seats had already been distributed to parties as misinformation.

He reiterated that no official decisions regarding seat allocation have been made and that the state’s role is limited to justifying the increase based on Sarawak’s geographical size and governance needs.

Under the constitution, any increase in DUN seats requires Parliament’s approval of a constitutional amendment.

Only after this can the EC conduct its boundary delineation exercise, taking into account population distribution, accessibility, and other statutory criteria.

Until the EC completes its work, discussions remain focused on ensuring better representation for Sarawakians without pre-empting the commission’s legally mandated role in determining the location of the new seats.