THE exclusion of the 13 new Sabah seats in the upcoming 14 general election was due to an ongoing parliamentary re-delineation revision for parliamentary by the Election Commission (EC).

A statement released by the Sabah state secretary office today said the state has requested the federal government to carry out the revision after approval of the 13 new state seats by the state assembly on August 17, 2016.

“Among the reasons and consideration for the new exercise was due to the last parliamentary re-delineation in Sabah was done 15 years ago, in 2003.

“The Sabah government felt that there was a need to increase the number of representatives from Sabah, aligned with the state’s status in the federation of Malaysia,” Sabah state secretary Sukarti Wakiman said.

Concerns have been raised by political quarters in Sabah that it would be unconstitutional if the 13 new state seats were excluded in the upcoming polls.

The seats still await Parliament’s approval, which passed the EC’s re-delineation report today.

The proposed 13 state seats would see an additional six Muslim-majority seats, two non-Muslim majority seats, four mixed seats and one Chinese-majority seat.

Pintasan, in the Kota Belud parliamentary constituency, is among the new seats, with up to 90% Muslim voters.

Other Muslim-majority seats are Tanjung Dumpil in the Putatan parliamentary constituency, Pantai Dalit (Tuaran), Sungai Manila (Libaran), Lamag (Kinabatangan) and Kukusan (Kalabakan).

The four mixed seats are in Bengkoka (Kudat), Darau (Sepanggar), Telupid (Beluran) and Mengaris (Kota Marudu).

The two seats with non-Muslim Bumiputera majority are Dambai (Papar) and Tulid (Pensiangan).

The sole new Chinese-majority seat is Segama in Lahad Datu town, under the Silam parliamentary constituency.

According to Sukarti, the size of some parliamentary constituencies in Sabah are larger than some states in Peninsular Malaysia and therefore, increasing the number of federal seats will improve the government’s effectiveness to manage the state.

“The Sabah government was made to understand the study on the parliamentary seats are presently ongoing,” said Sukati, adding that the tabling of 13 new state seats in Parliament will be tabled simultaneously with the new parliamentary seats. – March 28, 2018.