PBB’s Betong zone wants 12 more parliamentary seats for Sarawak

BETONG, Oct 8 — The Betong zone’s special convention of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) today called for an increase in the number of parliamentary seats in Sarawak by at least 12 to add to the present 31.

This is one of the nine resolutions passed at the one-day convention attended by delegates from 14 PBB branches in the Betong zone.

“We want at least three of the new seats to be considered for the Betong zone,” PBB vice president Datuk Julaihi Narawi said in reading out the resolutions.

He said increasing the number of parliamentary seats would enable the number of parliamentary seats for Sarawak and Sabah to form 35 per cent or one-third of the total number of Parliament seats in Malaysia.

Previously former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in September 2022 had given his commitment to issues raised in Sabah and Sarawak, including the total number of representatives from the two states in Parliament.

The former prime minister said this was among the issues raised in a meeting of the Special Council on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MKMA63) that he chaired.

The meeting was attended by Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, cabinet ministers, as well as leaders of Sabah and Sarawak.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said his insistence for his state and Sabah to receive a third of the country’s parliamentary seats was to safeguard their interests against any irrational leaders in the federal government.

“They can dissolve Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA6) if they amend the Federal Constitution at will with the support of over two-thirds Members of Parliament,” he told reporters later on.

When Malaysia was formed in 1963, 35 per cent of the then 159 parliamentary seats in the Dewan Rakyat were allocated to Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak.

Of the total, 104 seats were allocated to Peninsular Malaysia, 24 to Sarawak, 16 to Sabah, and 15 to Singapore.

After Singapore left in 1965, its seats were not allocated to East Malaysia but were distributed in the peninsula on the basis that it had more residents and states at the time.

In the current Parliament, 166 (or 75 per cent) of the 222 seats are in Peninsular Malaysia while the remaining 56 seats, are in Sarawak (31) and Sabah (25).