Sarawak, Sabah demand more seats under equal status


Desmond Davidson

The Dewan Rakyat currently has 222 seats but Sabah and Sarawak say it is peninsula-biased as the two Borneo states only have 56 members of parliament. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Seth Akmal, March 12, 2019.

THE proposed amendment to Article 1(2) of the federal constitution to restore Sarawak and Sabah’s status as equal partners in the federation of Malaysia must include according the two states a third of seats in Parliament, Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Masing said.

He was referring to the arrangement when Malaysia was formed in 1963, when Malaya held two-thirds of parliamentary seats, while Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore held the other one-third as a constitutional safeguard.


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Comments


  • How many percent of Malaysian voters are from Sabah and Sarawak? Do they make up 33% of the total or are they asking for entrenched gerrymandering. We are equal in that we all have 1 vote, but just that they are more equal because their vote has more weightage?

    Posted 4 years ago by Yoon Kok

  • Aiyoo cant you understand that there was and still there is an agreement for the formation of Malaysia which is registered with the UN (1541) . Please study it and get your facts right !

    Posted 4 years ago by Chen Fui Chin

  • Aiyoo cant you understand that there was and still there is an agreement for the formation of Malaysia which is registered with the UN (1541) . Please study it and get your facts right !

    Posted 4 years ago by Chen Fui Chin