Masing wants more Dayak representation in state assembly in planned re-delineation exercise
KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) wants additional state seats resulting from a planned re-delineation of constituencies this year to be allocated to the Dayak community.
PRS president Tan Sri Datuk Amar James Masing said the party was made to understand that there would be an increase of three to four state seats this year.
He said of the present 71 state seats in Sarawak, only 29, or 40 per cent, are in Dayak-majority areas and based on the population ratio the community is under-represented.
“Based on statistics that we have, Dayaks make up 44 per cent of the total population in Sarawak and to be proportionate, the community should get more than 40 per cent of the total 71 state seats,” he told a news conference after chairing the party’s supreme council meeting yesterday.
Masing, who is Land Development Minister, added that the party is hoping to get some of the proposed new seats.
“As far as PRS is concerned, there are three areas that we are very interested in, namely under Hulu Rajang, Selangau, and Sri Aman parliamentary constituencies. Those are areas of interest to us,” he said.
PRS has formed a special committee headed by political secretary to the chief minister Wilson Nyabong, Senate deputy president Senator Datuk Doris Brodie and Assistant Minister of Culture and Heritage Datuk Liwan Lagang to study the matter, he said.
“We have in fact put up the proposed names where the new seats should be but they are all subject to endorsement by SPR (Election Commission),” Masing stressed.
Currently, 35 of the existing 71 state seats are allocated to Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), while the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) has 19, PRS has nine and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) was allocated eight.
PBB won all its allocated seats during the last state election, while PRS won eight of them.
SUPP won six of the 19 seats, but four of the elected representatives have since moved on to Barisan Nasional (BN) friendly Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras).
SPDP won six of the seats, but five of the elected representatives have now joined Teras while another left to join Sarawak Workers Party.