‘No contradiction’: Abang Johari explains why EC says no Sarawak seat proposal yet

Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg clarified that there is no contradiction between the federal government's agreement in principle to increase parliamentary representation for Sarawak and Sabah and the Election Commission's (EC) indication of no current proposal for additional seats.

The federal agreement requires parliamentary approval before the EC can commence constituency reviews.

Abang Johari emphasized the procedural steps involved and noted the federal commitment aligns with prior Malaysia Agreement 1963 discussions, expressing hope for increased budgetary allocations for Sarawak in Budget 2027.

KUCHING, Sept 27 — There is no contradiction between the federal government’s agreement in principle to increase parliamentary representation for Sarawak and Sabah and the Election Commission’s (EC) statement that there is currently no proposal to increase Sarawak’s parliamentary seats, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He said the two statements referred to different stages of the process, with the federal government’s agreement still requiring parliamentary approval before the EC could begin the formal process of reviewing the constituencies.

“To me, those are different messages, and there is no contradiction. There are processes to go through before an increase to the parliamentary seats in Sarawak,” he told a press conference after launching the Sarawakku Sayang 2026 programme in Betong yesterday.

Abang Johari said the federal government had agreed in principle to increase parliamentary representation for Sarawak and Sabah, but the matter must first be endorsed by Parliament through a Bill.

Once the Bill is passed, he said the EC would proceed with the next stage, including the public display of proposed constituencies to allow for objections before making further recommendations.

“What has been agreed in principle needs to go through the process. The EC official said there is no proposal because it is still in the process.

“Just like the new state seats that had been endorsed in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN).

“The new seats must be approved by the Sarawak DUN and then the EC proceeds with the next stage,” he said.

On Sept 11, Prime Minister Datuk Anwar Ibrahim said the Cabinet had agreed to increase parliamentary representation for Sarawak and Sabah.

However, on Sept 25, EC secretary Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said there was currently no proposal to increase the number of parliamentary constituencies in Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Abang Johari said he hoped the federal government would fulfil matters discussed and agreed upon during previous Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Committee meetings, including increased allocations for Sarawak.

“Several matters have been discussed and having more allocations (for Sarawak) was among those discussed and decided. We hope it will be included in Budget 2027,” he said.

He had previously said Sarawak hoped funding-related matters agreed upon in the spirit of MA63 would be reflected in Budget 2027, which the Prime Minister is scheduled to table in Parliament this Oct 9.— The Borneo Post

* Editor’s note: DUN is the Malay abbreviation for Dewan Undangan Negeri, or State Legislative Assembly.

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砂拉越首相拿督巴丁宜丹斯里阿邦佐哈里敦奥本澄清说，联邦政府原则上同意增加砂拉越和沙巴的国会席位，与选举委员会表示目前没有增加议席的提议之间并不矛盾。

联邦协议规定，选举委员会必须先获得议会批准才能开始选区审查。

阿邦佐哈里强调了其中涉及的程序步骤，并指出联邦政府的承诺与 1963 年马来西亚协议之前的讨论相一致，同时表示希望在 2027 年预算案中增加对砂拉越的预算拨款。

古晋，9月27日讯——砂拉越首相拿督巴丁宜丹斯里阿邦佐哈里·敦·奥本表示，联邦政府原则上同意增加砂拉越和沙巴的国会席位，与选举委员会声明目前没有增加砂拉越国会席位的提案之间并不矛盾。

他表示，这两份声明指的是该过程的不同阶段，联邦政府的协议仍需议会批准，选举委员会才能开始正式审查选区。

“在我看来，这些是不同的信息，并不矛盾。在增加砂拉越国会席位之前，还有一些程序需要走，”他在昨天于勿洞启动“砂拉越爱我2026”计划后举行的新闻发布会上说。

阿邦佐哈里表示，联邦政府原则上同意增加砂拉越和沙巴的国会席位，但此事必须首先通过法案获得国会的批准。

他表示，一旦法案获得通过，选举委员会将进入下一阶段，包括公开展示拟议的选区划分方案，以便在提出进一步建议之前征求意见。

“原则上达成的共识还需要经过程序才能最终确定。欧盟委员会官员表示，目前还没有正式提案，因为相关程序仍在进行中。”

“就像砂拉越州立法议会（DUN）认可的新州议席一样。

他说：“新的席位必须先得到砂拉越州议会的批准，然后选举委员会才能进入下一阶段。”

9月11日，首相拿督安华·易卜拉欣表示，内阁已同意增加砂拉越和沙巴的国会代表席位。

然而，9月25日，选举委员会秘书拿督凯鲁·沙里尔·伊德鲁斯表示，目前没有增加砂拉越国会选区的提案。

与此同时，阿邦佐哈里表示，他希望联邦政府能够履行此前马来西亚1963年协议（MA63）委员会会议上讨论和商定的事项，包括增加对砂拉越的拨款。

他说：“我们讨论了多项事宜，其中就包括增加（对砂拉越的）拨款。我们希望这能纳入2027年财政预算案。”

他此前曾表示，砂拉越希望本着《1963年马来西亚协议》（MA63）精神达成的各项资金相关事宜能够体现在2027年财政预算案中，该预算案计划于今年10月9日由首相提交国会审议。——《婆罗洲邮报》

* 编辑注：DUN 是马来语 Dewan Undangan Negeri（州立法议会）的缩写。

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