Ensure integrity in redrawing of Sarawak constituency boundaries

We, the undersigned, call upon Ramlan Harun, the Electoral Commission chairperson to ensure integrity for the upcoming redrawing of Sarawak constituency boundaries.

This follows the emergence of a deck of 98 slides, which appears to be a blueprint for the state’s new electoral map [allegedly] representing the interest of the state’s ruling coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), especially its anchor party Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

The deck provides a detailed plan on how the 17 additional seats should be located, sized, ethnically composed and allocated to which GPS party and named:

• Added to only 14 out of Sarawak’s 31 parliamentary constituencies, including one of the smallest, P206 Tanjong Manis
• Denied to one of the state’s largest constituencies, P195 Bandar Kuching (109,607 voters in May 2025) while its neighbour with almost the same electorate size, P194 Petra Jaya (114,750) would be given two additional seats
• Vastly different in electorate size, from 28,949 voters in Seledah (P196 Stampin) to only 10,830 in Oya (P213 Mukah), a coastal township
• Consist of various ethnic majorities: Malay/Melanau/Kedayan (7), Chinese (3), Iban (4), Bidayuh (2) and Orang Ulu (1)
• To be allocated to various GPS parties: PBB-Bumiputera (7), PBB-Pesaka (3), SUPP (3), PRS (3) and PDP (1)
• To be named Jagoi (in P192), Sejinjang (P193), Serapi, Semarak (P194), Seledah (P196), Sg. Serin (P198), Susur Jambu (P206), Tanahmas (P211), Sungai Merah, Bukit Kemuyang (P212), Oya (P213), Bukit Arip (P214), Melekun (P215), Tukau (P218), Permaisuri, Tudan (P219) and Usun Apau (P220)

Note: The image shows the proposed new map for P213 Mukah. The new constituency Oya is coloured blue in the table and yellow in the map (wrongly labelled as Igan). All the four state seats and parliamentary seats are earmarked for PBB.

This plan is very similar to what was revealed by Free Malaysia Today on 6 July 2025, a day before the increase of 17 seats (from 82 to 99) was passed in the Sarawak Assembly. The only difference is that PRS and PDP were to get two new seats each in the July plan.

An Instagram posting by the account of Galong Luang (a former resident of Kapit division back in 2024) on 21 September 2024 show that officers from the Sarawak Electoral Commission office met Federal Deputy Digital Minister Wilson Ugak Kumbong (the MP for P216 Hulu Rajang) and former Sarawak Electoral Commission director Datu Takun @ Takon Sunggah who worked as a special administrative officer in the Sarawak state premier’s office.

One photo showed them working on papers with constituencies maps similar to the ones shown in the deck. In the post, Galong Luang thanked “Sarawak EC officers who helped us a lot in realising the business of creating new constituencies in the Kapit Division”.

This implied that similar meetings may have happened throughout the states. Linking the dots, can the Sarawak public retain any confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the Sarawak Electoral Commission office?

Will the commission eventually adopt or be influenced by the highly technical, detailed and comprehensive map that carves out the 17 new seats to guarantee GPS’ electoral victory and enhance PBB’s dominance?

Or will the commission demonstrate its independence by resisting such a proposal and being bold in implementing fair electoral boundaries of Sarawak?

We, the undersigned, urge Electoral Commission chairman Ramlan to

• Answer if he and his commissioners have seen this deck of 92 slides and if he authorised or permitted the meeting between the Sarawak Electoral Commission office and political representatives/state government
• Assure the public that the Sarawak redrawing process would be carried out with integrity and non-partisanship, and that the commission will not adopt any party’s gerrymandering and malapportionment schema to be its own proposal
• Abide the demand of the Constitution in the 13th Schedule [subsection 2(c)] that parliamentary and state constituencies within the same state must have the number of voters that are “approximately equal”, which in the original spirit means that the largest constituency cannot be larger than the smallest constituency, and “weightage of area” is only given to constituencies that span large areas and face transport challenges
• Ensure that the electoral boundaries prepared by the Electoral Commission would
  • Emphasise equalisation of voting power across Sarawak assembly seats which in turn reduces the inequality of voting power at parliamentary seats (since the principle of simple multiple is not being practised)
  • target the reduction of the electorate size of eight oversized parliamentary constituencies – P219 Miri, P196 Stampin, P217 Bintulu, P194 Petra Jaya, P212 Sibu, P195 Bandar Kuching and P197 Kota Samarahan – that are larger than the state’s average by more than 33%
  • place the 17 new seats between these 25 over-sized state constituencies – N75 Senadin, N52 Dudong, N06 Tupong, N54 Pelawan, N12 Kota Sentosa, N11 Batu Lintang, N74 Pujut, N04 Pantai Damai, N14 Batu Kawah, N68 Tanjong Batu, N72 Lambir, N07 Samariang, N13 Batu Kitang, N10 Pending, N55 Nangka, N51 Bukit Assek, N19 Mambong, N17 Stakan, N16 Muara Tuang, N70 Samalaju, N45 Repok, N20 Tarat, N73 Piasau, N02 Tasik Biru and N79 Bukit Kota – with electorate sizes that would be larger than the new state average (for the new total of 99 seats) by more than 33.33%
• apply reasonably and consistently the ‘weightage of area’ (allowing smaller electorate size) to only constituencies that span across large areas such as P216 Hulu Rajang (about the size of Pahang), P220 Baram (larger than Perak), P214 Selangau (Kedah), P217 Bintulu (Selangor), P215 Kapit (Negeri Sembilan) and P221 Limbang (two-thirds of Negeri Sembilan) and N64 Baleh, N65 Belaga, N66 Murum (larger than Kedah), N77 Telang Usan and N78 Mulu (almost Kedah). A suggested deviation from average is +/-20%
• provide justifications for not being able to achieve equalisation for selected constituencies
• start the redrawing review soon so that it can be completed by 14 July 2027, namely within two years from the date the seat increase came into force (15 July 2025), as stipulated by Article 113(3A)

We call upon the people of Sarawak from all 31 parliamentary constituencies and 82 existing state constituencies to be equipped with knowledge and skills to protect their voting power by ensuring that the redrawing process would be fair and representative.

Effective training is provided for free by Rose Sarawak and Tindak.

Members of the public can study an alternative fair boundary proposal of 99 assembly seats and 31 parliamentary seats here.

Signed,

• Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama)
• Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih)
• Engage
• Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (Rose) Sarawak
• Persatuan Bertindak Pilihan Raya Bebas dan Saksama (Tindak)

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