KUALA LUMPUR – The number of federal seats in Sabah and Sarawak should be increased in time for the 16th general election, Serian MP Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem told the Dewan Rakyat today.
While debating Budget 2024, he said he was reiterating this call not because it was a demand from Sabah and Sarawak, but because it is enshrined in the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report 1962 and the Cobbold Commission Report 1962.
He said representation of federal seats in the Borneo states should represent one-third or 35% of the total Dewan Rakyat representatives.
“The IGC stated that no single territory (in Malaysia) shall have more than two-thirds of seats in the Parliament. This means that the Sabah and Sarawak territory must have 35% representation at the Dewan Rakyat and not 25%.
“The Cobbold Commission Report also mentioned that the representations of the Borneo territory shall take into account not only the population but also their size and potentialities,” he added.
Currently, Peninsular Malaysia represents 75% (166 seats) of the total 222 parliamentary seats. Sabah (25) and Sarawak (31) represent the remaining 25%.
Additionally, Riot pleaded for the Education Ministry to re-approve the projects for upgrading and repairing dilapidated schools in Sarawak, which he claimed to have been retracted.
He noted that the projects in over 100 schools in Sarawak had suddenly been cancelled. Of this, more than 50 schools are in the Serian constituency.
“I don’t know what happened. The education ministry retracted (the approved) projects. I ask for this allocation to be returned to the schools involved,” he said.
Riot also noted that there is a lack of allocation given by the Education Ministry to rural schools for participation in sports competitions and events.
“So the parents and teachers associations (PTA) of these schools would resort to asking for the local people’s representatives, such as myself. Hence, I propose that at least RM10,000 should be allocated to each PTA for this purpose, especially rural schools,” he added. – October 25, 2023