MALAYSIA will celebrate the 60th year of its formation in 2023. The year commenced with a good start for Sabah and Sarawak with the recent announcement by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that the two states will be allowed to decide on the implementation of infrastructure projects costing less than RM50 million.

Since taking power at the end of last year, the Pakatan Harapan-led government has reiterated its commitment to fulfil the demand for the restoration of Sabah and Sarawak rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

While most of the measures to that effect are expected to receive widespread support among Malaysians, there is one particular demand that might be controversial – to provide Sabah and Sarawak with at least 35% of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat, the Lower House of Parliament.

The origin of this demand can be traced back to the early days of Malaysia, when Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore together held 35% of the seats.

Today, Sabah and Sarawak, which are home to 20% of the country’s population, have a 25% share.

The logic behind this demand is that none of the components that form Malaysia should be able to have seat numbers that could have allowed it to unilaterally amend the Federal Constitution. A constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of votes in both Houses of Parliament.

Therefore, Peninsular Malaysia should not be allowed to have two-thirds (66.7%) of the seats or more.

While some have insisted that a 35% share of the seats is necessary to safeguard Sabah and Sarawak rights, others are concerned that the Dewan Rakyat under this arrangement will be unrepresentative of the population of Malaysia and that it will erode democracy by aggravating the problem of malapportionment of seats.

Both arguments have merit. While it is important to protect the rights of the Borneo states, this must not be done in a way that will have negative side effects.

If the goal behind 35% seats demand is to prevent unilateral amendment of the Federal Constitution by the MPs of the peninsula, there are many ways to achieve this goal without distorting the representation of seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

Below are three alternatives for consideration.

1. Give Sabah and Sarawak MPs veto power in matters related to constitutional matters

Parliament could enact an amendment to the constitution that stipulates that any future changes must be supported by more than half of the MPs of Sabah and Sarawak in addition to the two-thirds majority.

For example, Sarawak has 31 and Sabah, 25 MPs. Under this proposal, any constitutional amendment will not be passed without the support of at least 16 of Sarawak and 13 of Sabah MPs.  

This will actually give Sabah and Sarawak MPs real power to block constitutional amendments. The maths shows that there is no guarantee that having 35% of seats will let the two states block  any constitutional amendment.

For example, let’s assume that the Dewan Rakyat is reconstructed to give Peninsular Malaysia 65% of the seats and Sabah and Sarawak, 35%. Let’s say we have a constitutional amendment that has the support of 55% of peninsular MPs and 15% East Malaysian MPs.

The amendment will be passed as it meets the two-thirds threshold even if it is not supported by the majority of Sabah and Sarawak MPs.

2. Give Sabah and Sarawak enough seats in the Dewan Negara to block constitutional amendments.

In most democracies with bicameral legislatures, the Lower House is supposed to be representative of the population while the Upper House is to represent each component state or province according to the agreed formula regardless of the population.

The Senate is long overdue for reform and this is one possible aspect that we should consider when we think about how we should restructure our parliament.

3. Enlarge the coverage of Sabah and Sarawak rights under Article 161E of the Federal Constitution

Article 161(E) says that amendments that affect the rights of Sabah and Sarawak should have the consent of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of both Sabah and Sarawak, who must follow the advice of the States’ Cabinet.

The government could consider amending this article to cover more areas related to the rights of these two states.

Let’s make 2023 a year when Malaysia is remade into a federation that is built upon mutual respect and common benefit. – January 9, 2023.

* Rayner Sylvester Yeo is a member of Agora Society. He was born in Sabah and is currently residing in Kuala Lumpur. Having grown up in a mixed-ethnic, multi-faith family and spent his working life in public, private and non-profit sectors, he believes diversity is the spice of life.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.