KOTA KINABALU, Nov 16 — The government has, in principle, agreed to increase the number of Parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak, taking into account the number of voters in the two states.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that so far, there is no commitment to increase the number of Parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak to one-third of the total seats, but the government is committed to increasing the number of seats.
The increase was also among the matters discussed in the Technical Committee of the Action Council for the Implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (JKTMTPM63).
“I said as a policy we will have to increase. But the numbers (of Parliamentary seats) are in (the) authority of the EC (Election Commission).
“There is a commitment to increase. I have asked the State Attorneys of Sabah and Sarawak and the Attorney-General to resolve that,” he said during a breakfast session with Sabah media practitioners today.
Currently, Sabah and Sarawak have 25 and 31 Parliamentary seats, respectively.
During an event in Tawau on September 26, Anwar said that the Parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak would be increased.
In another development, the Prime Minister touched on the progress of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah, which is still not completed compared to Sarawak, and stressed his commitment to ensure the project is completed through the right committee with a transparent tender process.
“I have been hearing of Pan Borneo (in Sabah) for almost 20 years, and Pan Borneo is not ready yet... if they want to subcontract to Sabah, we will give conditions. If there is a Sabah company that can do it, go for it,” he said.
