Give Sabah, Sarawak 1/3 seats in both the Dewan

Political analyst Professor James Chin disagreed with suggestions from Peninsula based NGO’s such as Projek Sama that Sabah and Sarawak be allocated 35 percent seats in the Dewan Negara instead of Dewan Rakyat.

He pointed out that the proposal lacked understanding of the Borneo states and claim to one third of parliament seats in both the houses.

The following are five reasons that for Sabah and Sarawak to have 1/3 seats in both Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.

“First, the Dewan Negara has minimal political legitimacy in Malaysian politics because it is a totally appointed House. Its members are not directly elected by the populace. That is why, for many years, debates in the Dewan Negara have received less attention than those in the Dewan Rakyat. Furthermore, many of individuals nominated to Dewan Negara are viewed as ‘reward’ for post-political service. Hence the significant number of retired politicians in the Dewan Negara.

“Second, all major legislations are introduced in the Dewan Rakyat, where the actual discussion occurs. The Dewan Negara only debates laws enacted by the Dewan Rakyat and hence lacks the legislative authority to block significant bills.

“Third, all major political players, including the prime minister, his deputies, and the majority of ministries, are from the Dewan Rakyat. Ministers from Dewan Negara are commonly regarded as “backdoor” ministers because they are appointed to the Dewan Negara in order to serve as ministers. This alone demonstrates that the political establishment views the Dewan Rakyat as more significant than the Dewan Negara.

“Fourth, in practice, the Dewan Negara has no real power to block laws other than to delay them. The one-third seats are designed to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s ability to block constitutional amendments if they disagree with Malaya.

“Fifth, it is clear that the original intention of the framers of the Constitution wanted Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak to hold a
veto over Malaya. This is to ensure that Malaya cannot alter the Federal constitution at will.

He also pointed a historical error that has not been rectified when Singapore quit Malaysia in 1965.

“When Singapore left the Federation in 1965, its 15 Parliamentary seats out of the 159 were not redistributed to Sarawak or Sabah.

“This was a historical error that needs to be rectified. As time went by, the number of Parliamentary seats of Malaya grew to more than two third of
the total Malaysia Parliament seats.