WITH Sarawak’s number of registered voters nearly doubling in just over a decade, the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill 2025 is a timely and strategic investment to address the state’s shifting demographic and governance needs.
Lingga assemblywoman Dayang Noorazah Awang Sohor said that in 2014, when the state legislature was capped at 82 seats, Sarawak had around 1.1 million registered voters.
As of January 2025, she said the number has surged past 2 million, an increase of nearly 100 per cent, particularly in semi-urban and rural constituencies.
“The structure of 82 seats has been in place since 2015. But the workload and representational demands have changed drastically over the last 10 years.
“The widening ratio of voters to elected representatives in certain constituencies had created an imbalance in democratic representation and governance delivery.
“This is not bloated politics; it is rectifying a systemic imbalance, ensuring that all Sarawakians have a fair and effective voice in their government.
“Let’s invest in our democracy, let’s invest in our future, and let’s support this Bill,” she said when debating in support of the Bill in the August House today.
She explained that with the proposed 17 additional seats, the increase in representation of just over 20 per cent, pales in comparison to the 100 per cent increase in voters.
“If cost is the concern, ask yourself: what’s more wasteful? Slightly more representatives or 82 overburdened ADUNs stretched to their breaking point, struggling to deliver efficient governance?” she asked.
Cautioning against romanticising overwork, she likened it to asking one firefighter to cover ten districts, or expecting a single doctor to treat 10,000 patients.
“That’s not leadership. That’s mismanagement disguised as toughness. We need to stop glorifying burnout and start investing in functional governance,” she added.
She said the expansion of the state constituencies is not only about representation but also stronger scrutiny of public funds, more targeted rural development, and equitable resource allocation.
She warned that ignoring the need for change due to cost concerns is not fiscal prudence, but fiscal recklessness.
“Increased oversight is a safeguard, it helps avoid duplication, bureaucratic wastage and mismanaged development, which cost far more in the long run.
“We sit here in comfort while ADUNs juggle the needs of 200 scattered villages simply because we refused to modernise our representational structure.
That’s unjust. Let’s invest in our democracy, let’s invest in our future, and let’s support this Bill.”
