Sarawak expected to gain 15 new parliamentary seats under proposed redelineation

Sarawak may gain 15 new parliamentary seats under a proposed electoral boundary redelineation, increasing its total from 31 to 46, enhancing its representation in the Dewan Rakyat.

Proposed new state constituencies would increase Sarawak's state seats from 82 to 99, considering demographic compositions, though the changes are pending legal processes.

The Election Commission is reviewing proposals from the public, acknowledging objections to boundary changes, and new seats might not be ready for the next Sarawak state election.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Sarawak is expected to gain 15 new parliamentary seats under a proposed electoral boundary redelineation exercise, which would bring the number of parliamentary constituencies in the state from 31 to 46 and help ensure Sabah and Sarawak collectively account for one-third of representation in the Dewan Rakyat.

Based on proposed electoral boundary documents shared with Berita Harian , the increase would raise Sarawak’s parliamentary seats from the current 31 to 46.

The Dewan Rakyat currently has 222 seats, comprising 166 in Peninsular Malaysia and 56 in Sabah and Sarawak, with 31 in Sarawak and 25 in Sabah.

The current 56 seats represent about 25 per cent of the total, compared with 74 seats that would be required if the one-third representation principle under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) were applied.

A further 18 parliamentary seats would be needed for Sabah and Sarawak to reach that figure.

After the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore collectively held one-third of the 159 parliamentary seats at the time, with the remainder allocated to Malaya.

Following Singapore’s departure from Malaysia in 1965, the quota was supposed to be shared by Sabah and Sarawak.

A source from a Sarawak political party told BH that the proposed increase had already been submitted by the Election Commission (EC) to local political parties and was now at the public display stage, which is scheduled to end this month.

“The proposed boundary review would see an increase after taking into account the growing number of voters in the state,” the source said when contacted.

According to records on the EC website, the last parliamentary boundary redelineation exercise in Sarawak was carried out in 2005.

That exercise added three constituencies — Igan, Sibuti and Limbang — increasing the total number of parliamentary seats from 28 to 31.

On December 3, 2015, the Sarawak Legislative Assembly approved the current state electoral boundaries, involving amendments to Clause (2) of Article 14 of the Sarawak Constitution that added 11 seats to the existing 71, bringing the total to 82.

For parliamentary constituencies, the amendment did not increase the existing 31 seats but instead changed the name of Mambong (P198) to Puncak Borneo.

Taking into account the eight-year interval, the way is now open for a new boundary review in Sarawak.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had previously said after chairing the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council meeting in Kota Kinabalu that the government had agreed in principle to amend the Federal Constitution to allow for additional parliamentary representation from Sabah and Sarawak, while increasing the representation ratio for the two states from the current level.

The decision was agreed by the Cabinet and communicated to the EC to begin consultations.

Meanwhile, the EC’s boundary review documents also list 17 proposed new state constituencies across 14 Sarawak parliamentary constituencies, which would increase the number of state seats from 82 to 99.

Ten constituencies proposed for name changes

Based on the documents, among the parliamentary constituencies proposed to receive new state seats are Mas Gading, Santubong, Petra Jaya, Stampin and Kapit.

For example, one new state seat, Jagoi, is proposed for Mas Gading, in addition to its two existing state constituencies, Opar and Tasik Biru.

Petra Jaya, which currently has three state constituencies — Tupong, Samariang and Satok — is proposed to receive two additional seats, Serapi and Semarak.

Overall, the 17 proposed new state seats take into account the demographic composition of the areas, with seven involving Malay, Melanau and Kedayan-majority areas, four for Iban communities, three for Chinese-majority areas and two for Orang Ulu communities.

Besides the proposed new seats, the boundary review also includes name changes for 10 existing state constituencies.

Among them, Opar is proposed to be renamed Serayan, Tasik Biru to Singai, Tarat to Bung Sadung, Jemoreng to Muara Lassa and Bawang Assan to Rassau.

Other proposed changes include Lambir to Pantai Tusan, Jepak to Jepak Jaya, Senadin to Riam and Ba’Kelalan to Gunung Murud.

However, the proposed 17 new state constituencies have yet to be finalised and must go through several legal processes, including objections and local inquiries.

The EC is currently displaying its proposed recommendations for the seventh review of federal and state electoral constituencies in Sarawak from September 1 to 30 for public inspection.

During this period, the state government, affected local authorities and groups comprising at least 100 registered voters may submit written representations or objections with supporting reasons.

EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the commission had so far received 18 representations online, most concerning proposed changes to polling district centres between state constituencies, as well as several objections over the renaming of state constituencies, particularly in Sarikei, Bintulu and Sibu.

He said the EC takes into account several key principles when determining new boundaries, including the number of voters, geographical considerations and local ties.

On whether the proposed new seats could be used at the next Sarawak state election, Ramlan said he expected they would not be ready in time.

“The term of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly expires in February 2027. So, based on the work process we need to go through, I expect we will not be able to use the new number of seats in the next state election,” he said.

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根据一项拟议的选区重新划分方案，砂拉越可能会获得 15 个新的国会席位，使其总数从 31 个增加到 46 个，从而提高其在下议院的代表性。

考虑到人口构成，拟议的新州选区将使砂拉越的州议席从 82 个增加到 99 个，但这些变化尚待法律程序批准。

选举委员会正在审查公众的提案，承认有人反对改变选区边界，新的议席可能无法赶上下一次砂拉越州选举。

吉隆坡，9月25日讯——根据一项拟议的选区重新划分方案，砂拉越预计将获得15个新的国会议席，这将使该州的国会议席数量从31个增加到46个，并有助于确保沙巴和砂拉越合计占下议院席位的三分之一。

根据《每日新闻》获得的拟议选区划分文件，此次增加将使砂拉越的国会席位从目前的 31 个增加到 46 个。

下议院目前有222个席位，其中马来西亚半岛166个，沙巴和砂拉越56个，其中砂拉越31个，沙巴25个。

目前的 56 个席位约占总数的 25%，而如果按照 1963 年马来西亚协议 (MA63) 规定的三分之一代表原则执行，则需要 74 个席位。

沙巴和砂拉越还需要18个国会席位才能达到这个数字。

1963年马来西亚成立后，沙巴、砂拉越和新加坡共占当时159个国会席位的三分之一，其余席位分配给了马来亚。

1965年新加坡脱离马来西亚后，配额本应由沙巴和砂拉越共同分享。

砂拉越某政党的消息人士告诉《商业周刊》，选举委员会已将拟议的加薪方案提交给各地方政党，目前正处于公开展示阶段，预计将于本月结束。

“考虑到该州选民人数不断增长，拟议的选区划分调整将导致选区面积扩大，”消息人士在接受采访时表示。

根据选举委员会网站上的记录，砂拉越上一次国会选区重新划分是在 2005 年进行的。

此次调整新增了三个选区——伊甘、锡布提和林邦——使议会席位总数从 28 个增加到 31 个。

2015 年 12 月 3 日，砂拉越立法议会批准了当前的州选区划分，对砂拉越宪法第 14 条第 (2) 款进行了修订，在原有的 71 个席位基础上增加了 11 个席位，使总席位达到 82 个。

对于议会选区，该修正案没有增加现有的 31 个席位，而是将 Mambong (P198) 的名称更改为 Puncak Borneo。

考虑到八年的间隔，现在为砂拉越进行新的边界审查铺平了道路。

首相拿督斯里安华·易卜拉欣此前在哥打基纳巴卢主持召开1963年马来西亚协议实施行动理事会会议后表示，政府原则上同意修改联邦宪法，允许沙巴和砂拉越增加议会席位，同时提高这两个州的代表比例。

该决定已获内阁同意，并已通知欧盟委员会开始磋商。

与此同时，选举委员会的边界审查文件还列出了在砂拉越14个国会选区中新增的17个州选区，这将使州议席数量从82个增加到99个。

十个选区提议更名

根据文件显示，拟增设州议席的国会选区包括马斯加丁、山都望、佩特拉再也、斯塔平和加帛。

例如，除了现有的两个州选区 Opar 和 Tasik Biru 之外，还提议为 Mas Gading 增设一个新的州议席 Jagoi。

佩特拉再也目前有三个州选区——图蓬、萨马良和沙托克——拟增加两个席位，即塞拉皮和塞马拉克。

总体而言，拟议的 17 个新州议席考虑到了各地区的人口构成，其中 7 个涉及马来人、米拉瑙人和卡达扬人占多数的地区，4 个涉及伊班族社区，3 个涉及华人占多数的地区，2 个涉及奥朗乌鲁族社区。

除了拟议的新席位外，边界调整还包括对现有 10 个州选区的名称进行更改。

其中，Opar拟更名为Serayan，Tasik Biru更名为Singai，Tarat更名为Bung Sadung，Jemoreng更名为Muara Lassa，Bawang Assan更名为Rassau。

其他拟议的变更包括从 Lambir 至 Pantai Tusan、Jepak 至 Jepak Jaya、Senadin 至 Riam 以及 Ba'Kelalan 至 Gunung Murud。

然而，拟议的 17 个新州选区尚未最终确定，必须经过几个法律程序，包括反对意见和地方调查。

选举委员会目前正在展示其对砂拉越联邦和州选区进行第七次审查的建议，审查时间为9月1日至30日，供公众查阅。

在此期间，州政府、受影响的地方当局和至少由 100 名登记选民组成的团体可以提交书面陈述或反对意见，并附上支持理由。

选举委员会主席拿督斯里拉姆兰·哈伦表示，该委员会迄今已收到 18 份在线意见书，其中大部分涉及州选区之间投票区中心的拟议变更，以及对州选区更名的一些反对意见，尤其是在泗里街、民都鲁和诗巫。

他表示，选举委员会在确定新的选区边界时会考虑几个关键原则，包括选民人数、地理因素和地方联系。

关于拟议的新席位是否可以在下次砂拉越州选举中使用，拉姆兰表示，他预计这些席位无法及时准备就绪。

“砂拉越立法议会的任期将于2027年2月到期。因此，根据我们需要完成的工作流程，我预计我们无法在下次州选举中使用新的议席数量，”他说。

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