KUCHING, Nov 12 — The Attorney General’s Chamber (AGC) is studying the legal aspects of the implementation of additional parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak, the Sarawak State Assembly was told today.
Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and State-Federal Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said the matter was conveyed at the meeting of the Action Council for the Implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MTPMA63) on September 12.
“Further discussions will be held by the AGC with the Sarawak State Attorney-General’s Chamber and the Sabah State Attorney-General’s Chamber.
“This discussion is to examine the interpretation of the term ‘safeguard’ (constitutional safeguards) for Sarawak and Sabah, as contained in the Cobbold Commission Report and the 1962 Intergovernmental Committee Report (IGC Report), from a legal perspective,” she said in response to a question from Tupong assemblyman Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman.
On November 10, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof was reported to have said that the implementation of additional parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak would only be finalised after the 16th General Election.
He said this is as several legal aspects needed to be reviewed before the necessary amendments can be done in the Dewan Rakyat.
The issue of claims for additional parliamentary seats was discussed in the MTPMA63 meeting in September, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The last redelineation exercise involving parliamentary constituencies was in 2006. Sabah and Sarawak now have 25 and 31 seats, respectively, making up for a combined 25 per cent of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
— Bernama
