The State will pursue 35 percent seats in Dewan Rakyat

1 October 2024

KOTA KINABALU:  Sabah's Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, has announced that the state will pursue the allocation of 35% percent seats in the Dewan Rakyat reserved for Sabah and Sarawak. 

This move comes after Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg highlighted the importance of increasing parliamentary seats for both states, as outlined in the Cobbold Commission Report.

Hajiji emphasised that both states would work together to safeguard their interests in the Dewan Rakyat. Currently, Sabah has 25 seats and Sarawak has 31, making up 25% of the total 222 seats in Parliament. However, they would need an additional 18 seats to achieve one-third representation.

"We have had discussions with the Sarawak government, twice at the officer-level, to request at least one-third of the seats in Parliament," Hajiji stated after Universiti Malaysia Sabah new students' "Aku Janji" pledge ceremony here.

He also mentioned that they had conveyed their desire to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim through the MA63 agreement on September 12.

When asked about the restoration of seats, Hajiji noted that several factors need to be considered, including the size of the area and population.

"To have one Parliament seat, the number of voters must also be taken into account. For example, it is not fair to have one parliament seat with just 20,000 voters," he explained.

However, he believes that Parliament has sufficient conditions to increase the number of seats.