One-third of the seats in parliament must be retained

KUCHING, 15 September: Sarawak and Sabah should retain one-third of the total seats in Parliament if the number of seats in the Lok Sabha is increased in future.

Sarawak Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the principle was in line with provisions of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63) including a concept of proportional representation taking into account the interests of Sarawak and Sabah.

He said that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's agreement on the principle is a positive development in ensuring the interests of both states continue to be protected.

"We want to stick to the one-third ratio. If the number of seats is increased, Sarawak and Sabah should also be increased according to that ratio", he said.

He said this when meeting with reporters after attending Sarawak Semiconductor Flagship Programme at the Sarawak Centre of Technical Excellence (CENTEXS) here, today.

Brother Johari added that the principle was also related to Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore's native status which constituted a third of the representation at the time of Malaysia's formation before Singapore withdrew from the Federation.

He said, if the total number of seats in Parliament is set at 222, the seat count for Sarawak and Sabah should be made on a one-third basis.

"If it's 100, a third is about 33. If you're 200, a third is 66. That's why we want a one-third ratio to protect our interests", he said.

Meanwhile, Brother Johari explained that the issue of mapping and determination of new electoral areas will be handed over to the Election Commission (EC).