“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
– Martin Luther King Jr, an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.
WHEN former Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun – better known as Art Harun – recently remarked that there was no legal basis for Sabah and Sarawak to hold one-third of parliamentary seats, his words struck a raw nerve across Borneo. For many, it was more than a technical opinion. It reawakened long-simmering questions about history, fairness, and whether the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) has ever been honoured in both spirit and practice.
Deputy Speaker of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly, Datuk Idris Buang, wasted no time in rebutting the claim. He called it “fallacious and sadly wrong”, insisting that the right to one-third representation is not only defensible but also rooted in the Cobbold Commission, the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report, and the MA63 itself. Idris cited paragraph 19(2) of the IGC Report, which safeguarded the seats of Sarawak and Sabah from being reduced for at least seven years after Malaysia Day – and only thereafter with a two-thirds majority and the consent of the Bornean states.
But his point was bigger than legal clauses. Idris reminded us that Sabah and Sarawak entered Malaysia not as appendages but as equal partners. The keywords, he stressed, were “should not be reduced” – a shield against domination by Malaya. In his view, the moment Singapore left the federation, and its 15 seats were absorbed into Peninsular constituencies without Sabah and Sarawak’s consent, that shield was breached. For him, the debate today is not just about numbers. It is about restoring trust, balance, and fairness.
SUPP echoed that sentiment. Its Batu Kitang branch secretary, Amy Tnay, criticised a peninsula-based DAP leader for suggesting that parliamentary seats should be allocated purely by voter population. She called such a view “narrow-minded”, arguing that it overlooked the very foundations of Malaysia’s formation.
“Increasing parliamentary seats has never been about politics alone. It is about fulfilling the equal partnership of Sarawak, Sabah, and Peninsular Malaysia,” she said.
Her words cut to the heart of a glaring inconsistency: if population is the ultimate yardstick, why is it not used when distributing federal resources, development funds, or revenue? Today, Sarawak holds 31 of 222 parliamentary seats, but six are controlled by peninsula-based parties. That leaves only 25 Sarawak-based voices in Parliament – far too few to block any federal Bill that could erode state rights.
Tnay went further, challenging DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen to clarify his stand: does he support the one-third claim, or does he side with his colleague’s population-based formula? For SUPP, the debate is not theoretical. It is existential. Without numbers, Sarawak’s voice in Kuala Lumpur risks being reduced to a mere formality.
Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) senior vice president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh added yet another dimension – geography.
“This is not a demand. It is a rightful claim. It is not an act of favour. It is the fulfilment of a promise,” he said.
Wong reminded us that Sarawak’s landmass, at 124,448 square kilometres, is nearly as large as all eleven peninsula states combined. Yet Sarawak commands just 14 per cent of parliamentary seats.
Its MPs represent vast rural constituencies like Hulu Rajang and Baram, where mountains, rivers, and scattered settlements make service delivery a herculean task. Compare that to compact urban constituencies in Malaya, where roads, hospitals, and internet coverage are readily available – and the inequity becomes undeniable.
For Wong, this is not an abstract imbalance. Under-representation leaves Sarawak’s autonomy, resources, and constitutional protections constantly vulnerable to a federal majority.
He also reminded the nation of Sarawak’s outsized contribution to Malaysia’s development: oil, gas, timber, and hydroelectric power – resources that have lit homes and powered industries far beyond Borneo. To him, one-third representation is not about privilege but about justice.
So where does this leave us? On one side are those who argue for the universal principle of “one person, one vote”, grounded in population. On the other are leaders in Sabah and Sarawak who say Malaysia’s birth was not an exercise in arithmetic, but a federation built on the idea of equal partnership.
If population is the only yardstick, does that not erase the historical bargain of MA63? And if one-third representation is still denied more than six decades on, what does that say about the sincerity of equal partnership?
The truth is that this debate is not new. But every time it resurfaces, it reveals the same unease: that equal partnership has too often been reduced to slogans trotted out on Malaysia Day, rather than honoured in political architecture and lived reality.
Ultimately, the question is one of trust. Can Sabah and Sarawak believe that the federation will honour its word – not just in law, but in spirit? Or will “population first” continue to be applied selectively, used to justify representation in Parliament but conveniently set aside when sharing wealth and resources?
Fairness is not just about numbers. It is about history, geography, and contribution. It is about ensuring that the voices of the Bornean states are not drowned out in a chamber where Malaya always has the loudest choir.
The call for one-third representation is not a demand for more than was promised. It is a reminder of a bargain struck sixty years ago, a promise still waiting to be fulfilled. As Wong put it, “This is not an act of favour. It is the fulfilment of a promise.”
And so, the question Malaysians must ponder is this: if commitments made in MA63 remain unsettled after six decades, what does that mean for Malaysia’s future as a federation of equals?
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune. The writer can be reached at drnagrace@gmail.com.
