TAWAU: Parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak will be increased, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said that the two states had previously requested additional parliamentary seats in a meeting regarding the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
"For the first time since 1993, Anwar, who is now the Prime Minister, has announced that the parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak will be increased," he said when speaking at a Keadilan Gathering Programme in conjunction with 27 years of reforms at Dewan Terbuka Awam Merotai Besar here Friday (Sept 26).
Also present were Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Communications Minister and PKR information chief Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh as well as Home Minister and Pakatan Harapan secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, and Sabah PKR State Leadership Council chairman Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.
Meanwhile, Anwar said the Sabah State Legislative Assembly should be dissolved by Nov 11 and reminded all parties to remain united and avoid any hostility that could threaten unity.
"We choose good Sabahans, we choose good Peninsular Malaysians. We have a good state government, a good federation to look after us, this is what is important," he said, stating that the state election is important to enable the people to elect leaders who will represent their voices.
Meanwhile, Anwar once again reiterated that Sabah received the highest development allocation in history under the Unity Government with various assistance based on the people’s needs.
"I was in Kota Kinabalu earlier and I had the opportunity to see the effects of the floods, school buildings and works on flood mitigation. I saw that the flood mitigation needs RM39mil, this Monday I will have a meeting and approve RM39mil, that is our way," he said.
In Budget 2025, Sabah received a high development allocation of RM6.7bil as a sign of the government's commitment to closing the development gap between Sabah and other states in Peninsular Malaysia. - Bernama
