Malaysia could be heading for a major electoral shake-up, with the Election Commission set to review constituency boundaries nationwide if Parliament approves a larger parliamentary share for Sabah and Sarawak.
The EC said the review would cover Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, because increasing Sabah and Sarawak’s representation ratio would also affect constituencies in the peninsula.
The announcement follows Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s agreement in principle to increase Sabah and Sarawak’s parliamentary share under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Borneo Wants Its Share Back
Sabah and Sarawak currently hold 56 of Parliament’s 222 seats, or about 25%.
Anwar has stressed that the Government is not simply adding seats.
Their proportion of parliamentary representation must also increase, with the exact number and mechanism still to be decided. He also said the previously discussed 40% target is not fixed.
When Malaysia was formed in 1963, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak together held one-third of parliamentary representation. Singapore’s departure in 1965 changed that balance, leaving Sabah and Sarawak with 56 of today’s 222 seats.
For Sabah and Sarawak, the demand is therefore tied to the constitutional arrangements surrounding the formation of Malaysia, not simply to population growth.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Mustapha Sakmud said increasing their representation would strengthen both states’ voice in national policymaking and uphold the spirit of MA63.
PAS Wants the Peninsula In Too
PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari has backed additional Borneo seats in principle but argues that Peninsular Malaysia should receive additional representation at the same time.
He specifically pointed to Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, saying east coast and other “Malay belt” constituencies were overlooked during the 2004 increase in parliamentary seats.
Fadhli has also questioned whether the proposed constitutional amendment can secure the required two-thirds parliamentary majority without negotiations over additional seats in the peninsula.
He accused Anwar of making a politically convenient promise to Sabah and Sarawak, while saying PAS would support an increase if the process is fair and properly negotiated.
The argument for reviewing Peninsular representation is legitimate. The problem is that more seats do not automatically mean more representation for Sabah and Sarawak.
More Seats Can Change Nothing
Sabah and Sarawak currently account for about 25.2% of Parliament.
If they receive 10 additional seats while Peninsular Malaysia receives 30, Borneo would have 66 of 262 seats. Its share would still be about 25.2%.
Sabah and Sarawak would have more MPs, but their political weight in Parliament would not have increased. That is precisely why Anwar has insisted that the ratio, rather than just the number of seats, must increase.
PAS can argue that Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang deserve more representation. But that demand should not be allowed to blur the separate question of Sabah and Sarawak’s position under MA63.
Peninsular states can make their case based on population, geography and representation. Sabah and Sarawak are also making a constitutional case rooted in the federation’s founding arrangements.
Both can be addressed without allowing one to dilute the other.
Population Is Not the Only Measure
Population will inevitably shape the redelineation debate, especially as Malaysia’s urban centres continue to grow.
But constituency boundaries also have to account for geography, accessibility and the practical difficulty of serving rural electorates.
A densely populated urban seat and a vast rural constituency cannot always be assessed in exactly the same way.
That makes the coming exercise more complicated than simply dividing Malaysia’s population by a new number of parliamentary seats.
The Lines Could Matter as Much as The Seats
The eventual boundaries could be just as consequential as the number of MPs.
Moving communities between constituencies can change the political makeup of a seat, while new boundaries can turn previously safe constituencies into competitive ones.
Sarawak is already going through its own redelineation exercise, with the EC proposing 17 new state constituencies that would increase the state assembly from 82 to 99 seats. The proposals are open to public objections until September 30.
That exercise offers an early glimpse of the scrutiny that a nationwide redelineation could face.
This Is Bigger Than Sabah and Sarawak
For voters in Peninsular Malaysia, their own parliamentary constituency could eventually change.
For political parties, the stakes are much higher. A larger Parliament and new boundaries could reshape the arithmetic of forming a government and determine which seats become safer or more competitive.
But the central issue should not get lost in the expansion.
Malaysia is not simply deciding whether Parliament should have more MPs.
It is deciding whether Sabah and Sarawak will actually gain a greater share of political power and how that change can be made without turning a specific MA63 commitment into a general race for more seats.
GE16 could be fought on a political map that does not exist yet.