KOTA KINABALU: The Election Commission (EC) should be open to the proposal from Sabah and Sarawak to increase the number of parliamentary seats for the two states, says Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) secretary-general Datuk Julita Majungki (pic).

As an independent body, she said the EC should look seriously into the proposal which is aimed at strengthening parliamentary democracy in the country.

She said the EC should be open to transformation of the electoral system and increasing the number of parliamentary seats for the two states, in line with the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.

She added that the Federation’s founding fathers had put in place safeguards to ensure that the peninsula would not have more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats.

This was to ensure that the peninsula states get the support of Sabah and Sarawak to pass any changes to the Federal Constitution.

Majungki said the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) and PBS president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, and the Special Council on Malaysia Agreement 1963 have endorsed the proposal.

The PSC, formed to improve the parliamentary process in 2005, also listed the proposal as one of 21 recommendations of the committee.

Many of the recommendations have since been adopted by the EC, such as the implementation of the reduction in the voting age as well as anti-party hopping and political funding laws.

Majungki criticised former deputy EC chairman Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Wan Omar for his comments to a Malay daily recently that it was unreasonable for Sabah and Sarawak to demand an increase in parliamentary seats.

“As a former senior officer of the EC, he should respect the spirit of the formation of Malaysia for the good of the Parliament,” she added.

Based on records of discussions on the formation of Malaysia, Majunki said it was agreed that the total parliamentary seats for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (prior to its leaving the Federation in 1965) was balanced to ensure that their combined representation would be more than one-third in total.

“This was to ensure that no laws could be passed by Malaya without the support of the non-Malaya components of the Federation,” she added.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/09/20/ec-urged-to-be-open-to-sabah-swak-proposal