Jeffrey: Sabah should emulate Sarawak in increasing seats

Borneo Post

2 days ago

Jeffrey (seated, second row, right) attending the special screening of the scam awareness film Oppa.
KOTA KINABALU (July 14): Sabah should follow in the footsteps of Sarawak in adding more constituency seats, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
He reminded that during the formation of Malaysia, a formula had been established where 65 percent of the country's parliamentary seats were allocated to West Malaysia, with the remainder divided between Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.
However, following Singapore's exit from Malaysia, Jeffrey said the allocation has become lopsided, with West Malaysia now holding nearly 75 percent of the seats — effectively giving it more than a two-thirds representation in Parliament.
'This contravenes the conditions outlined under paragraph 6 of the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC),' he said.
Although the proposal to increase Sabah's constituency seats has not been formally raised in State Cabinet meetings, Jeffrey said the idea has been circulating, and he intends to bring it up in the next meeting.
'Before we increase parliamentary seats in Sabah, we first need to identify and increase the state seats.
'For example, if we want 14 new parliamentary seats, we would need at least 28 new state seats. Although this is just my personal view and calculation, I believe Sabah should follow Sarawak's example,' he said.
Jeffrey, who is also Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president, shared this after officiating a special free screening of the scam awareness film Oppa, sponsored by STAR Luyang and Persatuan Inspirasi Sabah at a hotel here yesterday.
Around 1,000 people — including students, enforcement agencies, and members of the public — attended the two-day screening of the locally produced film, which highlights the dangers of modern-day scams.
Also present were Persatuan Inspirasi Sabah chairwoman Eliza Jane, the movie's producer Captain Denil, and Women Entrepreneurs Consortium founder Prof Dr Liana Lim.