More seats for Sarawak, Sabah require constitutional amendment

A constitutional amendment and a two-thirds majority in Parliament are required before additional parliamentary seats can be created for Sarawak and Sabah.

Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Law, MA63 and Federal-State Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said the federal cabinet had agreed in principle to increase the proportion of parliamentary representation for the two states in the Dewan Rakyat, in line with the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“However, the formula and number of additional seats have yet to be determined, with discussions involving the federal government, Sarawak and Sabah still required before the constitutional process can proceed,” she said in response to Chieng Jin Ek (GPS-Bukit Assek) during question and answer session on Wednesday (Oct 14).

She added that the next steps would involve reaching an agreement on the formula and number of seats, preparing a Constitution (Amendment) Bill for Parliament’s approval, and subsequently undertaking constituency delimitation by the Election Commission (EC).

Based on the current total of 222 seats, restoring a one-third share would mean 74 seats for the two states combined, although Sharifah Hasidah said no final allocation had been determined.

She added that the parliamentary representation issue was separate from the ongoing redelineation exercise by the Election Commission, which currently involves Sarawak state constituencies.

On education, Sharifah Hasidah said the federal government had agreed to delegate authority to the Director of Education Sarawak to approve projects funded by the Sarawak government or other non-federal entities.

“The move removes the previous requirement for such approvals to be routed through Putrajaya, allowing education projects to be implemented more efficiently.
“The federal Ministry of Education (MoE) had also agreed to consult the Sarawak Education Department director before making decisions on appointments or acting appointments in the state, with the aim of minimising prolonged vacancies.

“In another development, the ministry was prepared to allow Computer Science to be taught in English as an additional STEM subject, which she described as a meaningful step towards recognising Sarawak’s position on the use of English under Paragraph 17 of the Inter-Governmental Committee Report,” she said.

On healthcare, she said Sarawak continued to pursue the formal delegation of statutory authority under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586).

“The proposed delegation would enable the state to administer the licensing, inspection and approval of private healthcare facilities,” she stated.

She said discussions on healthcare access, infrastructure, manpower requirements and the long-term development of Sarawak’s healthcare system had also taken place at a joint action committee meeting on Aug 11, 2025, co-chaired by the federal Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.