Sarawak expected to gain 15 new parliamentary seats under proposed redelineation

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Sarawak is expected to gain 15 new parliamentary seats under a proposed electoral boundary redelineation exercise, which would bring the number of parliamentary constituencies in the state from 31 to 46 and help ensure Sabah and Sarawak collectively account for one-third of representation in the Dewan Rakyat.

Based on proposed electoral boundary documents shared with Berita Harian, the increase would raise Sarawak’s parliamentary seats from the current 31 to 46.

The Dewan Rakyat currently has 222 seats, comprising 166 in Peninsular Malaysia and 56 in Sabah and Sarawak, with 31 in Sarawak and 25 in Sabah.

The current 56 seats represent about 25 per cent of the total, compared with 74 seats that would be required if the one-third representation principle under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) were applied.

A further 18 parliamentary seats would be needed for Sabah and Sarawak to reach that figure.

After the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore collectively held one-third of the 159 parliamentary seats at the time, with the remainder allocated to Malaya.

Following Singapore’s departure from Malaysia in 1965, the quota was supposed to be shared by Sabah and Sarawak.

A source from a Sarawak political party told BH that the proposed increase had already been submitted by the Election Commission (EC) to local political parties and was now at the public display stage, which is scheduled to end this month.

“The proposed boundary review would see an increase after taking into account the growing number of voters in the state,” the source said when contacted.

According to records on the EC website, the last parliamentary boundary redelineation exercise in Sarawak was carried out in 2005.

That exercise added three constituencies — Igan, Sibuti and Limbang — increasing the total number of parliamentary seats from 28 to 31.

On December 3, 2015, the Sarawak Legislative Assembly approved the current state electoral boundaries, involving amendments to Clause (2) of Article 14 of the Sarawak Constitution that added 11 seats to the existing 71, bringing the total to 82.

For parliamentary constituencies, the amendment did not increase the existing 31 seats but instead changed the name of Mambong (P198) to Puncak Borneo.

Taking into account the eight-year interval, the way is now open for a new boundary review in Sarawak.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had previously said after chairing the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council meeting in Kota Kinabalu that the government had agreed in principle to amend the Federal Constitution to allow for additional parliamentary representation from Sabah and Sarawak, while increasing the representation ratio for the two states from the current level.

The decision was agreed by the Cabinet and communicated to the EC to begin consultations.

Meanwhile, the EC’s boundary review documents also list 17 proposed new state constituencies across 14 Sarawak parliamentary constituencies, which would increase the number of state seats from 82 to 99.

Ten constituencies proposed for name changes

Based on the documents, among the parliamentary constituencies proposed to receive new state seats are Mas Gading, Santubong, Petra Jaya, Stampin and Kapit.

For example, one new state seat, Jagoi, is proposed for Mas Gading, in addition to its two existing state constituencies, Opar and Tasik Biru.

Petra Jaya, which currently has three state constituencies — Tupong, Samariang and Satok — is proposed to receive two additional seats, Serapi and Semarak.

Overall, the 17 proposed new state seats take into account the demographic composition of the areas, with seven involving Malay, Melanau and Kedayan-majority areas, four for Iban communities, three for Chinese-majority areas and two for Orang Ulu communities.

Besides the proposed new seats, the boundary review also includes name changes for 10 existing state constituencies.

Among them, Opar is proposed to be renamed Serayan, Tasik Biru to Singai, Tarat to Bung Sadung, Jemoreng to Muara Lassa and Bawang Assan to Rassau.

Other proposed changes include Lambir to Pantai Tusan, Jepak to Jepak Jaya, Senadin to Riam and Ba’Kelalan to Gunung Murud.

However, the proposed 17 new state constituencies have yet to be finalised and must go through several legal processes, including objections and local inquiries.

The EC is currently displaying its proposed recommendations for the seventh review of federal and state electoral constituencies in Sarawak from September 1 to 30 for public inspection.

During this period, the state government, affected local authorities and groups comprising at least 100 registered voters may submit written representations or objections with supporting reasons.

EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the commission had so far received 18 representations online, most concerning proposed changes to polling district centres between state constituencies, as well as several objections over the renaming of state constituencies, particularly in Sarikei, Bintulu and Sibu.

He said the EC takes into account several key principles when determining new boundaries, including the number of voters, geographical considerations and local ties.

On whether the proposed new seats could be used at the next Sarawak state election, Ramlan said he expected they would not be ready in time.

“The term of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly expires in February 2027. So, based on the work process we need to go through, I expect we will not be able to use the new number of seats in the next state election,” he said.