By Remy Majangkim
KOTA KINABALU:Are the Borneo States fairly represented in the Malaysian Parliament? To answer this, we must consider what fair representation means for Sabah and Sarawak and how Members of Parliament (MPs) advocate for their communities.
Recently, an article on MalaysiaKini argued that Sabah and Sarawak do not need more parliamentary seats because their populations are smaller than Malaya’s.
This raises the fundamental question: is parliamentary representation just about population, or also about ensuring a balanced voice in national decision-making?
This view is troubling and helps explain why people in the Borneo States feel there is uneven development between West and East Malaysia. Malaysia is made up of four regions: the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah), and Sarawak.
These are the sources of wealth for Malaysia. Are you downplaying East Malaysia’s role?
This debate started when Singapore, one of Malaysia’s founders, left in 1965. Before then, Singapore held 15 out of 153 parliamentary seats. Upon its exit, the question remains: should these seats have been reallocated to Sabah and Sarawak?
It is crucial for the remaining members of Malaysia to hold one-third of the votes in Parliament, or it will be open to abuse and bulldoze any bills for their own gain.
A quote from the official parliament portal says, “Parliament passes federal laws, makes amendments to existing federal laws, examines the government’s policies, approves the government’s expenditures, and approves new taxes.
Parliament also serves as the forum to discuss matters of public interest.”
But parliament does not reign supreme; it is the Constitution that reigns supreme under Article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution, thus limiting the power of Parliament.
As of 16 September 1963, there are 159 Members of Parliament. So we break it into numbers and percentages as follows:
Malaysia, formerly known as the Federation of Malaya, has 104 members, representing 65.41% of the total. Sabah, formerly known as North Borneo, has 16 members, representing 10.1% of the total. Sarawak has 24 members, representing 15.1%, and Singapore has 15 members, representing 9.4%.
The Federation of Malaya has two-thirds, and the combination of Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) & Sarawak stands at one-third of 34.6%.
Fast forward to the present; we have a total of 222 Members of Parliament. The composition is as follows:Peninsular Malaysia has 166 seats, representing 74.77%.
Sabah has 25 seats, representing 11.26%, and Sarawak has 31 seats, representing 13.97%. Both represent 25.23%, less than one-third, which means the seat allocation from Singapore was taken by the Federation of Malaya.
In 1966, when Singapore exited Malaysia, the Malaysian government should have made appropriate adjustments for the vacant seats of the Members of Parliament. However, this did not happen, as evidenced by the various changes made to the Federal Constitution during the years of the emergency period.
How can Malaysia claim equality if the voices of Sabah and Sarawak are consistently under-represented in Parliament? The essence of fair representation is not just in numbers but in ensuring all regions have a meaningful say in national decisions. True equality would mean allocating 33 to 34% of parliamentary seats to Sabah and Sarawak, in keeping with their founding role in Malaysia.
The federal government has also changed how the House of Representatives and Senate are made up, especially in Articles 45 and 46. These changes led to the current situation. Articles 1(3) and 1(4) were also updated to include the Federal Territories. All these changes have further complicated the situation that needs to be sorted out.
So, who has the power to squeeze the Federal Government to bow to our request? The power lies with both the Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah and Sarawak, which need to work together in unison to demand an equal voice in Parliament and adhere to the spirit and foundation of Malaysia.
