No need to increase parliamentary seats, says Dr M

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has objected to proposals to increase the number of seats in Parliament, saying there are already enough MPs to ensure the people’s grouses will be heard.

He said increasing the number of MPs won’t necessarily lead to better debates.

“Many people have objected to the proposal. They have followed the proceedings and found that out of 222 MPs, only 10 participated in debates in an intellectual manner. The rest remained silent or did not argue convincingly.

“Increasing the number of MPs would not lead to better debates. The country would not benefit much.

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“Hearing the grouses of the majority of people, I agree with them there is no need to increase the number of constituencies. With 222 MPs, there is already enough for the people’s problems to be ventilated in Parliament.

“If we consider only the MPs who are active, 100 is enough,” he said in a statement today.

Mahathir also cited the opinion of Mohamed Zahir Ismail, who was Dewan Rakyat speaker from 1982 to 2004.

According to Mahathir, the late Mohamed Zahir believed that there were too many MPs.

“As a result, the parliamentary proceedings take a very long time because many MPs took part in the debates. Mohamed Zahir said there is no need to add more MPs because the chambers are already congested and proceedings are lengthy,” Mahathir said.

‘After GE16’

Mahathir’s statement comes as Sabah and Sarawak are lobbying for more parliamentary constituencies to be created in the state, to increase their representation in Parliament from 25 percent to 35 percent.

The two states argued that is in accordance with the 1963 Malaysia Agreement. Having a 35 percent representation in the Dewan Rakyat would mean the ability to veto constitutional amendments deemed detrimental to the interests of East Malaysia.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said the implementation of additional seats for Sabah and Sarawak could only be finalised after the 16th general election.

This is because there are several legal issues that need to be reviewed before the necessary amendments can be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat, Bernama quoted him as saying last month. - Mkini