EC refuses to heed proposal, says not bound by 1963 accord on Sabah, Sarawak seats

The Election Commission (EC) has dismissed a proposal to set aside one-third of Dewan Rakyat seats to Sabah and Sarawak as agreed in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, saying it will only stick to provisions in the Federal Constitution in carrying out its redelineation exercise.

Its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said any other agreement was not binding on the EC.

"Any allocation of seats must be dealt with according to the constitution and not by way of any agreement which will not be binding on the EC," he told The Malaysian Insider via SMS.

At present, Sarawak and Sabah only account for 57 of the 222 parliamentary seats, which is far below the one-third figure of 74 seats.

Last week, the Sabah Solidarity Movement said it had submitted a memorandum to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to restore the one-third veto power for Sabah and Sarawak as constitutional safeguards.

The memorandum was signed by local Sabah coalition chairman Datuk  Mohd Noor Mansoor, Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah chairman Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, Sabah Progressive Party chairman Datuk Yong Teck Lee, Sabah People’s Rights Movement president Narawai Ahmad and STAR Sabah chairman Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

Kitingan, acting as spokesman, said the movement noted with sadness that although both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat MPs had voiced support for Pandikar’s initiative for parliamentary reforms, none of their proposals addressed the injustices faced by Sabah and Sarawak in the present Parliament.

He said one-third of Dewan Rakyat seats for Sabah and Sarawak should be restored to show both territories were of equal status with states in the peninsula.

Kitingan said when the Federation of Malaysia was formed, Malaya held only held two-thirds of parliamentary seats, with one-third held by Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.

He said when Singapore left in 1965, Sabah and Sarawak lost its one-third veto powers in the Dewan Rakyat and now held only 25% of the seats.

Aziz said he was unaware of the memorandum and that it was premature for the EC to hold any discussion with any parties.

"It's only hearsay at this point as the EC has yet to have any knowledge about that memo, therefore the EC can't comment about the contents of that memo by the group," he said.