Reject ‘disingenuous’ call for one-third senate seats that ‘insults’ Borneo states, say 11 NGOs

KUCHING (Sept 30): East Malaysians have been asked to reject the recent call by four organisations for Sarawak, Sabah, and Labuan to be given more than one-third of Dewan Negara seats.

The group of 11 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from Sarawak and Sabah said the recent proposal by The Rise of Social Efforts (Sarawak ROSE), Coalition for Clean and Free Elections (Bersih), Engage, and Tindak Malaysia “do not have the best interests of Sabah and Sarawak”.

The 11 NGOs are Sarawak Association For Peoples’ Aspiration (Sapa), Dayak International Organisation (DIO), Moningolig Pogun Tokou (Mopot – Defenders of Ancestral Lands Sabah), Gindol Initiative for Civil Society Borneo, Pertubuhan Kebajikan Rumpun Dayak Sabah (PKRDS), Gabungan Orang Asal Sarawak (Goass), Persatuan Etnik Dayak Asal Sarawak (Pedas), Sarawak Institute of International Affairs (Sipa), Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights (Sabar), Sabah Entitlement and Equity Now (Seen), and Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia).

“We note the strong push by NGOs such as ROSE, Bersih, Engage, and Tindak Malaysia to push for the Borneo states to be given more than one-third of senatorial seats.

“The Malayan NGOs may want to reform the electoral system in Malaya but they should do so without harming the interests of Sabah and Sarawak.

“Their push for more equalisation of the vote in Malaya should not include Sabah and Sarawak as it is a political problem in Malaya between the Malays and non-Malays. It has nothing to do with Sabah and Sarawak,” the 11 NGOs said in a joint statement today.

The 11 NGOs said they rejected the proposal as it does not address fundamental issues including a historical correction to the mistake made in 1965.

They pointed out that when the Federation of Malaysia was established in 1963, North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore received more than 34 per cent of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

They stressed that this was an important “safeguard” requested by North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore.

“When Singapore left the federation in 1965, Malayan officials should have followed the original ratio and redistributed the Singapore seats to Sabah and Sarawak.

“As a result, we are requesting a correction for a historical error. This correction is similar to the constitutional amendment made in 2021 when the original wordings were put back in Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution. It was to ‘right’ a historical ‘wrong’ in 1976,” said the NGOs.

Stating that Dewan Negara lacks political legitimacy, the 11 NGOs pointed out senators are appointed by the King and State Legislative Assemblies (DUN) rather than being directly chosen by the people.

“You cannot expect a non-elected chamber to have the authority to speak out for Sabah and Sarawak with legitimacy. If the Dewan Negara was powerful, Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak leaders would have requested a third of the Dewan Negara seats back in 1963,” said the 11 NGOs.

According to them, the Malayan NGOs’ proposal for one-third of the Dewan Negara seats indicated that they know where the power lies.

“In summary, using today’s lens and half-truths to push for the one-third criteria to be met by Dewan Negara is disingenuous and an insult to Sabahans and Sarawakians,” the 11 NGOs stated.

They urged all Sarawakians and Sabahans to unite on this issue and reject the suggestion by ROSE, Bersih, Engage, and Tindak Malaysia.

The four organisations recently issued a joint statement to support the call for Sarawak, Sabah, and Labuan to be given more than one-third of the seats in Dewan Negara.

The statement was issued in response to a specific proposal ‘Dewan Negara 35/100’, which was made by Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama) on Malaysia Day, which had received a mixed reception.