A bigger voice for Sabah, S’wak?

A vibrant display of Malaysia’s cultural diversity comes alive as members of various ethnic communities, dressed in colourful traditional attire, gather in Kuching to celebrate Malaysia Day. Their smiles, costumes and shared festive spirit reflect Sarawak’s rich heritage and the unity, harmony and pride that bind Malaysians together on Sept 16. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star

Analysts differ on the formula but agree geography and constituency size matter

PETALING JAYA: Political analysts say increasing parliamen­tary seats for Sabah and Sarawak should not be treated as a numbers exercise alone.

Geography, accessibility and MPs’ ability to serve vast consti­tuencies must also be factored into the review, they said.

Universiti Sains Malaysia political analyst Prof Datuk Dr Siva­murugan Pandian said no arbitrary figure should be fixed for the increase.

“The increase should be based on population, MA63 principles and Sabah and Sarawak’s geographic realities.

“The formula must be transpa­rent and evidence-based,” he said when contacted.

The principle of “one person, one vote” should remain, he said, but constituency sizes could not be determined by population alone.

“Distance, terrain, islands and accessibility should also be consi­dered in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Sivamurugan said the exercise should address both MA63 repre­sentation and wider electoral imbalances nationwide, including disparities in voter numbers and constituency sizes.

Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub, senior lecturer at Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Business and Economics, said moving towards roughly one-third representation could be a credible starting point, but cautioned against treating it as a fixed political target.

Sabah and Sarawak currently hold 56 of the 222 Dewan Rakyat seats, or about 25%.

Reaching roughly one-third representation would require about 27 additional seats for the two states if Peninsular Malaysia’s 166 seats remained unchanged, he said.

However, Mohammad Tawfik said the final figure should be based on a transparent formula combining MA63’s historical safeguards, voter population, geographical size, accessibility and the cost of effective representation.

“Equal voter numbers cannot be applied mechanically,” he said.

“An MP serving a remote inte­rior constituency in Sabah or Sara­wak may cover vast terrain, riverine settlements and areas requiring flights or long overland travel.”

Mohammad Tawfik added that the Election Commission (EC) should allow clearly defined geographical deviations from the national average where justified, while avoiding excessive dispa­rities.

Nusantara Academy for Stra­te­gic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan, however, disagreed that Sabah and Sarawak should automatically be allocated one-third of parliamentary seats based on MA63.

He said the original one-third arrangement also included Singa­pore, which is no longer part of Malaysia.

Additional seats, he said, should instead be determined by consti­tuency size, geography and population.

Citing large constituencies such as Rajang in Sarawak and Kina­batangan in Sabah, he suggested that such seats could potentially be divided to make it easier for MPs to serve constituents.

“The best method is based on size. That is the problem with Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Azmi said the same review should also cover Peninsular Malaysia, including highly populated or dense constituencies such as Bangi, Kota Raja, Wangsa Maju and Pandan.

EC, he said, should be respon­sible for balancing population, constituency size and the one-­person-one-vote principle when reviewing electoral boundaries.