Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak) Datuk Mustapha Sakmud has proposed a special committee to work out the mechanism for increasing parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak, Bernama reported.
He said the committee could be established under the Technical Committee of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council (MTPMA63) and co-chaired by himself and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
“The increase in the number of Members of Parliament from Sabah and Sarawak has been included in the agenda of MTPMA63 and its Technical Committee meetings, and has also been discussed extensively at Cabinet meetings.
“Following the decision, I held preliminary discussions with the Election Commission (EC) to seek its views and determine the next course of action,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Willie Mongin (GPS-Puncak Borneo) on the mechanisms and legislative steps required to increase parliamentary seats for the two states.
Mustapha said discussions would continue at upcoming meetings of the MTPMA63 Technical Committee.
Meanwhile, he said 13 of the 26 matters under the MTPMA63 negotiation platform had been categorised as resolved following decisions made at the first MTPMA63 meeting on Sept 11.
Three matters were categorised as partially resolved, five remained unresolved and another five had been referred to the Prime Minister, the Sarawak Premier and the Sabah Chief Minister for discussion.
The matters referred to the top leadership include oil royalties and petroleum cash payments, stamp duties, the Territorial Sea Act 2012 and state rights over the continental shelf.
Mustapha said the MADANI Government remained committed to expediting the resolution of claims under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, although the timeframe for each claim would depend on the relevant legal processes.
“The MADANI Government remains firmly committed to ensuring the prudent and inclusive implementation of MA63, grounded in the spirit of strong federalism,” he said.
