Ongkili speaks to reporters at the press conference. He is flanked by Mohamad Kadim and Hanifah (right).
KOTA SAMARAHAN (Sept 20): A taskforce would be set up to study the proposal to increase the number of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak in the spirit of the formation of Malaysia, said Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.
In this respect, the Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) highlighted that the Borneo states, together with Singapore before it exited the Federation of Malaysia, once commanded 35 per cent of seats in the Malaysian Parliament.
“The proposal to restore the number of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak to 30 to 35 per cent of all seats in Parliament needs to be studied further.
“But the idea to restore (the parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak) to 30 to 35 per cent is to ensure that there is a balance in the distribution of parliamentary seats and the voices of Sabah and Sarawak in Parliament,” he said in a press conference held after officiating at the ‘Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63): From the Millennial Generation’s Perspective’ forum in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) yesterday.
Ongkili said it was the aspiration of the founding fathers of Malaysia to ensure that Peninsular Malaysia would not possess over 70 per cent of the parliamentary seats in order to safeguard the rights and interests of Sabah and Sarawak before the laws related to the Constitution could be passed.
“The issue to restore the number of seats has been discussed during a special council chaired by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and both Sabah and Sarawak government have agreed to pursue this matter with the Election Commission (EC), the Parliament and the Federal Cabinet.”
Ongkili said a special parliamentary select committee chaired by him had already endorsed a request to increase the number of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak back in 2015.
The federal minister did express hope that while the exact number of seats to be carved out would be subject to negotiations, the EC would practise open-mindedness in discussing the proposal and to not ‘easily dismiss the sentiments and desire of Sabah and Sarawak in respect of the formation of the country’.
Deputy Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib and Unimas vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi were also present yesterday.