KUALA LUMPUR: The federal government has been urged to restore the original 35 per cent allocation of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak, as enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Senator Pele Peter Tinggom stated that the redelineation exercise conducted in 1965 reduced the representation of the two regions to around 25 per cent, contradicting the spirit of MA63 and the recommendations of the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report.
“This composition must be reinstated immediately so that the Federal Constitution and MA63, which form the foundation of Malaysia, are not sidelined,” he said during the debate on the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) in the Dewan Negara today.
Tinggom also raised concern over the continued use of ‘lain-lain’ (others) to categorise ethnic groups from Sabah and Sarawak in official government forms, stressing that the practice runs contrary to Article 161A(7) of the Federal Constitution, which clearly recognises the ethnic status of communities in both territories.
“This is very disheartening. Until today, official government forms still categorise the Sarawak and Sabah ethnic groups under the ‘others’ category. This must stop immediately,” he said.
He added that addressing both the matter of parliamentary representation and the recognition of ethnic identities would help restore fairness and safeguard the rights of Sabah and Sarawak within the Federation of Malaysia.
