KUCHING: After two deliberations, there is still no decision on Sarawak and Sabah demand to increase the Borneo territories' representation in parliament, said Deputy Minister in the Premier's Department Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.

Speaking at the legislative assembly today, she said a position paper on the proposal to increase Sarawak and Sabah representation by 35 per cent was first made in August, 2022 and the second one in January last year.

Hasidah, replying to a question from Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau who asked on the status of the position paper during question time, said the Sarawak government's proposal was first presented to the then Jawatankuasa Rakan Sekutu on Aug 23, 2022.

The federal government was then headed by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri.

She said the meeting was chaired by the then Minister for Law, Tan Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who is now the Sarawak head of state.

She said no outcome was reached in that first deliberation as there was a change in the federal government following the defeat of the Barisan Nasional in the 2022 general election.

"Following the change of the federal government, the Sarawak government continued to pursue the matter under the newly-established Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council, which was chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The first meeting of the action council was held on Jan 20 last year, and she said the decision then was that the proposal be deliberated further in the working committee headed by the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department.

Hasidah told the assembly the outcome of this meeting would then be presented at the upcoming Technical Committee Meeting which will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof.

No date had been set for the meeting and Hasidah also did not say when it would be held.

She, however, said it is the Sarawak government's highest hope that this demand could be fulfilled "to ensure a balanced representation in the parliament in line with the spirit and original purpose of Malaysia's formation in 1963 itself".

When Nagu asked when the demand could be fulfilled, she said she could not say when.

"But we will continue to fight for it," she added.

She earlier told the assembly that under the Inter-Governmental Report (IGC), Chapter 1, paragraph 3 clearly stated that the intention of the establishment of this committee to work out the future constitutional arrangements, including safeguards for the special interests of Sabah and Sarawak; which covers such matters as religious freedom, education, representation in the Parliament, the position of the indigenous races, control of immigration, citizenship, and the state constitution.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/1047811/decision-still-pending-sarawak-and-sabah-demand-35-cent-parliamentary