KUCHING: More Sarawakians are jumping on the bandwagon to voice their views on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) related to the allocation of one-third of parliamentary seats.
The latest is a lawyer here who asserted that during the formation of Malaysia, Sarawak, Sabah, and Singapore were each allocated one-third of the parliamentary seats.
Lim Heng Choo said when Singapore were forced out of the federation, all the seats allocated to Singapore should by right be reassigned to Sarawak and Sabah; but it wasn’t the case as the seats was allocated to Malaya.
Hence, he said, the reason for Sarawak and Sabah pushing for the restoration of those seats.
“Restoring these seats will have a big political implication as it will ensure fairness and justice in the federation, in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“Sarawak and Sabah’s interest will be protected from any encroachment by the federal government,” he said when contacted.
He was asked to comment on Sarawak’s demand for the one-third parliamentary seats.
Lim explained that with the current imbalance, Sarawak and Sabah therefore cannot stop any constitutional amendment in Parliament that may not be in the interest of the two Borneo states.
“A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat,” he said.
He added that got any proposed amendment to the federal constitution, the federal government has to seek the consent of Sarawak and Sabah, otherwise the two states can defeat the proposed constitution amendment in the Dewan Rakyat.
Currently, Sarawak has 31 parliament seats and Sabah holds only 25 seats, for a total of 56 seats or 25 per cent of the total 222 seats in Parliament.
