Sabah will lose more rights, voice in parliament

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah and Sarawak are not ready for the one-vote-one-value voting system which will see both states’ presentation in parliament reduced by 15%.

Currently Sabah’s 25 and Sarawak’s 31 parliamentary seats make up 25% of the 222 seats in parliament

Agreeing with Upko Kota Belud deputy chief Ewon Benedict, UK-based Borneo Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) chairman Daniel Jambun warned that a redelianation of boundaries will further erode Sabah and Sarawak’s position as equal partners in the federation.

Benedick had reportedly said that  981,814 voters in Sabah and 1,083,972 voters in Sarawak were involved in the recent general election. This he said comprised 15%  of the total 13,268,007 voters in Malaysia.

“If we adopt the one-vote-one-value system, then the people of Sabah and Sarawak must be ready to accept its consequences,” Benedict had said.

Adding to Benedict’s comment, Jambun said any proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries must strictly adhere to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement.

“Sabahans are very worried that after this exercise Sabah and Sarawak will lose more rights and voice in Parliament.

“This is because the exercise can be another federal manipulation with gerrymandering after which Sabah and Sarawak will lose more leverage as Borneo states,” Jambun said.

He said that consistent with the spirit of the 20 Points, both states should have 34% of the parliamentary seats, and it is for this reason that  Sabah and Sarawak must never surrender any seat – parliament or state seat – to any Malayan-based parties, but defend it by all means.

“Local opposition based party must unite and fight for their rights consistent with the Malaysia Agreement, the 20 Points, the IGC Report and the Oath Stone, both in letter and spirit.

“Allowing any seats to be contested by KL parties tantamount to surrendering the rights of the Bornea states.

“But as it is now, most of these seats have been robbed by KL-based parties — Umno, MCA, and Gerakan from BN, and DAP and PKR from PR (Pakatan Rakyat).

“Any seat transferred to a Peninsula-based party will be our serious loss because the parliamentarians will not be able to speak firmly for Sabah, simply because they have to toe the line with their Malayan political bosses,” he said.

Jamubun pointed out that the “very purpose” of the existing 34% seats that Sabah and Sarawak have is “to enable us to veto any negative laws thatKuala Lumpur may decide to impose on the Borneo states.”

“What we are worried about is that the federal government may be ignorant about Sabah rights as stated in the many documents such as the Malaysia Agreement the 20 Points, the Cobbold Commission Report and even the Oath Stone.

“This worry is strongly founded by the fact the during the recent campaign, the Prime Minister was making statements betraying his ignorance of Sabah history and Sabah rights.

“For example he, just like the PKR supremo (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, didn’t know that Sabah’s autonomy was a special arrangement promised before the formation of Malaysia.

“If the federal leaders are still this ignorant, or feigning ignorance, then we are bound to lose a lot more with this redelineation exercise.

“There is also the real danger that the Barisan Nasional will use this exercise to strengthen its grip on the two states, which it considers to be its fixed deposits,.” he said.