MIRI: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Pujut Branch’s Publicity and Information Secretary, Chong Kong Min, criticised Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) for objecting to the proposed increase in Sarawak’s State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seats from 82 to 99.
It questioned whether PBK truly cared for the rights and interests of Sarawakians.
The response comes after PBK Miri Division’s Chairman, Leslie Ting Siong Ngiap, expressed his disapproval over the plan.
Chong argued that while the increase did not affect parliamentary seat distribution directly, it laid the constitutional groundwork necessary for Sarawak to push forward its claim to one-third of the parliamentary representation under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“The initiative by the GPS government to increase state seats is a people-first reform.
“With the implementation of automatic voter registration, the number of voters has increased significantly.
“If the number of seats remains unchanged, service delivery at the grassroots level will be severely impacted.
“Each additional seat can ease the workload of existing assemblypersons, enabling more comprehensive and targeted development and services,” Chong said in a statement.
He further pointed out that every government assemblyperson currently received RM5 million annually under the Rural Transformation Project (RTP).
“If Miri were to gain two additional seats, that would mean an extra RM10 million annually for basic infrastructure such as roads, drainage and public facilities,” he said.
Chong questioned PBK’s motives for opposing the proposal, and asked whether the party was merely aligning itself with DAP Sarawak by rejecting the motion “for the sake of opposing”.
He clarified that the redelineation of electoral constituencies lay with the Election Commission (SPR), and not with the DUN or any political party.
“The current Bill only sets the total number of seats while the actual delineation will be carried out by SPR based on population, geography and fair representation,” he said.
Chong also dismissed PBK’s claim that Pujut Assemblyman, Adam Yii Siew Sang, had failed to advocate for a new seat for the constituency, calling the accusation “completely baseless and misleading”.
He concluded by urging all political parties to support reforms that benefitted the people rather than engage in rhetoric that hindered Sarawak’s path toward greater autonomy.
“This is not political manoeuvring; it is a concrete step towards securing fairer parliamentary representation for the people of Sarawak.
“PBK should reassess its position instead of blindly following the opposition’s narrative just to gain attention,” he said.
