KOTA KINABALU: There is a need for the redelineation of parliamentary and state seats in Sabah, says Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick.
As such, the party would be recommending to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor areas where they feel have the more critical need for redelineation such as Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Sepanggar.
He said there were also calls from party division leaders to include Kota Belud in this exercise, as the last time there was a redelineation was in 2002-2003, which came into effect for the 2004 General Election.
Ewon said this in a statement after chairing the Tuaran division Upko triennial general meeting on Sunday (July 5).
“As for whether Tuaran needs redelineation, we will leave it to Tuaran Upko to decide and make a proposal,” he added.
He said the state Cabinet had actually discussed this matter prior to this, and all parties were asked to send in their suggestions.
The matter of redelineation had also been discussed in other avenues such as in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Implementation Action Council meeting, when the Legal Affairs division under the Prime Minister’s Department tabled the issue, said Ewon.
The last time Sabah had its parliamentary seats increased was for the 2004 general polls while its state seats had increased from 60 to 73 for the 2020 state election.
