THE Sarawak government is grateful for having given the space to discuss the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) with the federal government, according to Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg.

He said a special ministry had also been established to look into this and fix any loophole in the MA63’s implementation, as per the wishes of the people of Sabah and Sarawak.

Last week, the special council on MA63 met to discuss the number of Sabah and Sarawak MPs in Parliament with the aim of balancing representation by providing 35% of seats in Parliament to the East Malaysia states.

“We in Sarawak and Sabah have to ensure that our rights and privileges are always protected and safeguarded in Parliament, and that the wants of some federal leaders are not imposed upon us to our detriment,” he said in Bintulu last night.

According to Abang Johari, at present Sabah and Sarawak only have 56 representatives in the Dewan Rakyat, or 25% of the 222 seats.

Although Sarawak has a relatively small population, he said the state should have more parliamentary seats considering that the creation of a parliamentary constituency is not solely based on the number of people.

“Even in the UK, parliamentary representation is not solely based on population but also on the size of a particular constituency.

“Should a constituency be considered based only on population then remote places with a scattered population like Ulu Baram, Belaga and Ulu Rajang will not merit representation, which is not the case as we know,” he said.

Abang Johari said other issues discussed at the meeting were the current status of healthcare in Sabah and Sarawak, with facilities needing repair or rebuilding.

“I really hope the federal government will pay serious attention to these issues, especially in Sarawak, and will also provide adequate funding for this purpose,” he added. – Bernama, September 17, 2022.