Fairness demands MA63 to be respected

I have read the statement and view by the former Chairman of the Election Commission of Malaysia Wan Ahmad Wan Omar with great concern where he said that the parliamentary seat allocation should not be based on MA63.

The very foundation that this country we called Malaysia exist was because of MA63. Does Wan Ahmad understand that MA63 also encompass the Cobbold Commission report and the Inter-Governmental committee Report (IGC Report)? In these reports had documented the aspiration and concerns of the people Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak that the special rights and privileges of Sabah and Sarawak could be taken away through the amendments of the Federal constitution with 2/3 parliamentary advantage to Tanah Melayu then.

When MA63 was signed and the electoral boundaries for the new federation of Malaysia were created, it was already acknowledged that the population of Sabah and Sarawak was much lesser that Tanah Melayu.

Yet, this was not the sole criteria but rather the size and the potential of Sabah and Sarawak were also factors considered then. There was also the realization the need to create a safeguard so that the rights and privileges of Sabah and Sarawak in the federal constitution is protected by ensuring that no one territory would have a 2/3 parliamentary advantage which could be used to amend the constitution without the consent of the others. All these were the very reason why the allocation of the parliamentary seats were made in such a way when Malaysia was formed with Singapore being part of the equation then.

Our constitution was amended in 1965 regarding the number of Paliamentary seats for Sabah, Sarawak and Tanah Melayu when Singapore left Malaysia. Resulting in the number of the parliamentary seats formerly belong to Singapore were given to Tanah Melayu without having regards to the intention and reason why it was distributed in such a way in the first place when Malaysia was formed.

Everything that exist as Malaysia today was because of MA63. The statement coming from the former EC deputy chairman in such a manner is the very reason why there is a need to create more awareness about the history of the formation of Malaysia and the importance of MA63.

It is very concerning reading such view coming from a former senior government officer. Perhaps there should be more effort now to create greater awareness and understanding amongst our federal civil servants especially those who have the task and responsibility of advising the government in creating the right policy and vision for Malaysia.

It should be highligthed that the post that the former EC chairman sat on before, exist upon the creation of our country from the Malaysia Agreement 1963. The Election Commission power and function itself derived from the Federal Costitution, a constitution that in 1963 became the supreme law of a new country based on MA63.

The former EC Deputy Chairman justification that the number of electors must be ‘approximately equal’ for a new one to be created also contradicts with the current reality on the numbers of electrorates in Malaysia parliamentary constituencies.

How would such definition applies in the Parliementary seat of Banggi where there were 311,499 voters in 2023 as compared to the Parliementary seats of Lenggong with 36,950 voters or in Pandang Rengas with 38,686 voters for the same year. I cannot see this as ‘approximately equal’ by any definition.

There are many more parliamentary seats that is very disproportianate with the numbers of electrorates currently througout Malaysia. So before we are told that fairness must be considered based on the population and the number of voters in a given parliamentary constituency that is approximately equal to each other, you must first adress the current imbalance that still exist today.

I really hope that this is only the personal view of the former deputy chaiman of the EC and not the official view of the Election Commission who is entrusted with the responsibility by the MA63 Technical Committee to provide a report and recommendation upon the demand by Sabah and Sarawak to respect of the original intention of the 1/3 formula for the distribution of the parliamentaty seats when Malaysia was formed in 1963.

Datuk Nelson W Angang

Ahli Dewan Negara