KUCHING: A Sarawak-based NGO has raised concerns about the financial and electoral implications of increasing the state legislative assembly's membership from 82 to a record 99.
Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (ROSE) said the addition of 17 new members would involve an increase of nearly 21% in the state's annual expenditure on salaries for assemblymen and constituency development funds.
It estimated that the additional expenditure would come up to RM140mil a year.
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"We question the prudence of this allocation, especially when administrative and developmental responsibilities largely fall on the 12 Resident's Offices and 26 local authorities across the state.
"We call for serious consideration to redirect or allocate a portion of these funds to these local government institutions on the frontlines of public service delivery so that they are better resourced for more effective delivery," ROSE said in a statement on Tuesday (July 8).
On Monday (July 7), the Sarawak Legislative Assembly passed the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill 2025 to increase its membership to 99 elected representatives.
State Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, when tabling the Bill, said the increase was timely and necessary to reflect Sarawak's demographic changes, development and growing demand for more equitable representation.
ROSE said Sarawak currently had 2,017,772 registered voters, meaning that the average number of voters per state constituency would drop to 20,381 with the increase in seats.
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"This raises questions about whether such a move is truly representative or equitable," it said.
The NGO called for a comprehensive review of electoral boundaries and processes to ensure that representation was based on clear demographic, geographic and administrative justifications.
It also reiterated the need to extend the duration of state assembly sittings from the current 16 days per year to ensure sufficient time for robust debate, legislative scrutiny and policy oversight.
"This is especially concerning for a state that manages a GDP of RM150bil and an annual state budget of RM15bil.
"Sarawakians deserve a more active, transparent and accountable legislature that serves as true checks and balances on executive power," ROSE said.
