EC Says No Sarawak Seat Increase Until Constitution Amended

Deputy Minister in the Premier's Department (Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations) Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali told the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly that the Election Commission has not yet prepared a proposal to increase Sarawak's parliamentary constituencies because the necessary constitutional amendment has not been completed. Under Article 46 of the Federal Constitution, any increase for Sabah and Sarawak must be approved by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, after which the EC would conduct delimitation according to Article 113 and the Thirteenth Schedule.

The federal government's agreement in principle therefore represents only the initial stage of a longer process. She clarified that the planned expansion of state assembly seats—from 82 to 99—has already been approved and is under review, but the new constituencies might not be finalized before the next state election. Public inspection of the redelineation exercise is scheduled from Sept 1 to 30 this year.