Dewan Rakyat unanimously agree to increase Sabah state seats

PARLIAMENT | The Dewan Rakyat has unanimously passed the motion to increase the state seats in Sabah from 60 to 73.

All 158 parliamentarians from both sides of the divide voted for the motion and no lawmaker voted against it.

This is despite concerns raised by PAS Pendang parliamentarian Awang Hashim and Upko Tuaran parliamentarian Wilfred Madius Dungau in their debate earlier today that there is gerrymandering in the redelineation exercise.

Awang argued that the Pakatan Harapan government should make changes in the "gerrymandered" Sabah redelineation exercise which was drafted during the previous BN administration instead of continuing to pursue it in the House.

In his winding up of the debate, de facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong defended the redelineation of electoral boundaries in Sabah.

"I would like to explain that the redelineation exercise carried out by the Election Commission (EC) was based on the principle stipulated in the Federal Constitution," he said.

The Constitution allows some leniency and that the apportionment is not the only consideration in redelineating the electoral boundaries, he said.

Other factors, included the density of the population, the growth of voters, geographic situation and the size of the constituency, would be taken into consideration, according to Liew.

[More to follow] - Mkini