As Malaysia celebrates her 61st birthday, the Project for Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama) proposes an immediate increase of 15 extra Senate seats each for Sabah and Sarawak to immediately ensure a one-third veto power for East Malaysia to block any unilateral constitutional amendments by the West Malaysian states and territories.
As per Article 45 of the Federal Constitution, the Senate currently has 70 members, with two members each elected by the legislatures of Sabah and Sarawak and another federally appointed member representing the territory of Sabah – amounting to a mere 7.1%. An additional 30 senators from Sabah and Sarawak would immediately give East Malaysia (including Labuan) a total of 35 seats in an expanded Senate with 100 members, exactly 35%, hereafter the ‘Dewan Negara 35/100’ proposal. (Table 1)
Table 1: The 35% Senate seats proposal
| Method of Selection | States / Federal Territories | Existing Numbers | % | Proposed Addition | New Total | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election by state legislature | Sabah | 2 | 2.9% | 15 | 17 | 17.0% |
| Election by state legislature | Sarawak | 2 | 2.9% | 15 | 17 | 17.0% |
| Appointment by Agong | FT Labuan | 1 | 1.4% | – | 1 | 1.0% |
| Election by state legislature | West Malaysia states | 22 | 31.4% | – | 22 | 22.0% |
| Appointment by Agong | FT Kuala Lumpur; FT Putrajaya | 3 | 4.3% | – | 3 | 3.0% |
| Appointment by Agong | Non-geographical Representatives | 40 | 57.1% | – | 40 | 40.0% |
| Total | 70 | 100.0% | 30 | 100 | 100.0% | |
We call upon all parties supportive of a constitutional veto power by East Malaysia to support this proposal and the amendment of Article 45 so that this goal can be attained in the next parliamentary session that starts on 14 October. When Parliament convenes again next March, the veto power can already be a reality.
Here are the three advantages of this proposal over the complicated yet ambiguous demand for 35% representation for both states in the House of Representatives.
Realisable before next general election
Firstly, the 35% of Senate seats for Sabah and Sarawak can be achieved by simply amending Article 45, without any complication. As the “Madani” (trustworthy) government now commands a two-thirds’ majority, it can carry this through without obstacles.
Likewise, Perikatan Nasional (PN) will support it unless they oppose the fundamental idea of having an East Malaysian veto bloc. More detailed reform on the Senate can follow after this 35% formula is passed.
In contrast, the 35% of House of Representative seats may not be realised in time for the next general election, which must be held a the latest by February 2028. It needs to go through three stages: negotiation between government parties on the total and the allocation of seats for all states, an amendment to Article 46 which may become a prolonged debate, and constituency delimitation that may take up two years.
Since no normal constitutional amendments can be passed without two-thirds’ support in either the Senate of the House of Representatives, it would make more sense for East Malaysians to secure their veto power early through this straightforward 35% of Senate seats proposal, as Malaysian politics changes rapidly.
No bloated Parliament
Second, the East Malaysia veto power can be achieved with a mere increase of 30 senators, which is much more acceptable to the public.
In contrast, the demand for RM35% of House of Representatives seats may produce a bloated parliament. Its proponents have not presented a specific plan on how this 35% representation may be achieved, promising polemics. Safe to say, it is impossible for West Malaysian MPs to agree to take away 21 seats from West Malaysia to be given to East Malaysia, or even increasing seats only in East Malaysia when many West Malaysian constituencies have over 200,000 voters.
If an equal number of seats are added to both East and West Malaysia as a compromise, then Dewan Rakyat would be bloated with a total of 360 seats.
Table 2: Three scenarios for the demand of 35% of House of Representative seats
| Scenario | West Malaysia | East Malaysia | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status quo | 165 | 57 | 222 |
| Keeping the total at 222 | 144 | 78 | 222 |
| Change (Δ) | (-21) | (+21) | (0) |
| Only increase in East Malaysia | 165 | 89 | 254 |
| Change (Δ) | (+0) | (+32) | (+32) |
| Increase in both East and West Malaysia | 234 | 126 | 360 |
| Change (Δ) | (+69) | (+69) | (+138) |
Without parliamentary reforms to deliver better quality in lawmaking and policy scrutiny, ordinary people would reject this job creation for politicians at such colossal scale.
Affirmation of East Malaysia’s special status
Third, the proposal for 35% of Senate seats for Sarawak and Sabah would confirm the veto power of East Malaysia – Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan – which is an enhancement as compared to the Malaysia Agreement 1963, which did not promise veto power for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, as wrongly claimed by many.
The over-representation of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia’s first parliament, capped at 15% and 10% respectively, was promised only in in the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report in 1962, neither linked to the seats of Singapore nor stated as part of the veto power. Most critically, the promise was constitutionally terminated by the end of August 1970, as per Article 161E(2)(e) of the Federal Constitution.
The proposal for 35% of Senate seats would be a firm manifestation of Sabah and Sarawak as special regions within the Federation of Malaysia in line with the democratic norm. In federalism, the Senate is commonly made the house of state rights, and over-representation and veto power for less populated or special states is justified. – Projek Sama
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
