MA63 - that was an agreement involving the Federation of Malaya(The Peninsular Malaysia States), Sabah, Sarawak and others..
The Federation of Malaysia was formed following the merger of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak on 16 September 1963.
Then, the Prime Minister of Malaya represented all Peninsular Malaysia States at the table...
But, now we are again discussing MA63, and the Peninsular Malaysia States are ABSENT - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the current government today represents the whole of Malaysia - and thus do not have the capacity to represent Peninsular Malaysia States anymore - unless the Peninsular Malaysia States met and authorised specifically that Anwar and his government can still act on behalf of the Peninsular Malaysia States >>> I do not think that happened.
Thus, it is only proper and right that all the States of Peninsular Malaysia are represented at this discussion, representing their own States.
Why is this important? Because the discussions involving the giving of MORE MONIES, etc to Sabah and Sarawak - which means a loss of monies to the Peninsular Malaysia States and its people... So, only the States of Peninsular Malaysia can agree to this...not the PM Anwar Ibrahim's Federal government of Malaysia.
The involvement of ALL Peninsular Malaysia States also gives the opportunity for the States to re-discuss State rights and allocations.
Being a Federation, States may want to lay claim to a certain percentage of Federal Funds..
States may want to lay claim to LOCAL GOVERNMENTS within their States - the power to decide whether to have Local Government Elections or NOT, the power to have access to Local Government Funds(or Part of It).
States may want to lay claim Public Transport Licenses - thus allowing States to issue licenses to operators of public transport within their own respective States. Now, licensing and approval are controlled by the Federal Government - hence when Selangor and Penang were Opposition Controlled States - they could not secure needed public transport licences to operate busses, taxis, motor-bike taxis, etc within their own State..
Rise of Social Efforts (Sarawak ROSE), Coalition for Clean and Free Elections (Bersih), Engage and Tindak Malaysia supports the call for Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan to be given more than one-third of Senatorial seats.
A specific proposal, ‘Dewan Negara 35/100’ was made by Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek SAMA) on Malaysia Day and has received mixed reception.
We see the demands for over-representation of East Malaysia in Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara as two closely-linked but separate issues that deserve detailed scrutiny and rational deliberation.
On the Joint Statement by Sarawak ROSE, BERSIH, ENGAGE and Tindak Malaysia(see below), I disagree in part- My proposal is that the number of Senators per State should be based on POPULATION of each States - and Senate Constituency Bondaries be drawn - and SENATORS are directly elected by the people, no more appointed by the State government or Legislative Assembly.
Art 45 Federal Constitution - Composition of Senate
...(4) Parliament may by law—
(a) increase to three the number of members to be elected for each State;
(b) provide that the members to be elected for each State shall be so elected by the direct vote of the electors of that State;
(c) decrease the number of appointed members or abolish appointed members.
Sarawak and Sabah voters form 17% of the national electorate, and already enjoy 25% of seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
As Malaysia, at the end of the day is a Federation, made up of States, Federal Territories and the Region of Sabah and Sarawak. All states have different populations (i,e, voters) - and rightly, there must be equitable representation based on voter population(rather than States) - so the number of Parliamentary seats, and Senate seats must be based on populations - which will be also adhering to the CONSTITUTION Guarantee of equality of PERSONS (not States/Regions/Federal Territories). Art 8(1) All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.
Bangi has the highest population among all 222 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia with 708,300 people in 2023. ....two more constituencies in Selangor, Kota Raja and Subang, with populations of 538,900 and 492,600 respectively, are the second and third most populous respectively. Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that three constituencies in Sarawak recorded a population of fewer than 30,000, namely Kanowit with 25,300 people, followed by Lubok Antu (27,400) and Igan (28,000).
How can there be this EQUALITY in representation in Parliament? Can anyone say that a person in Bangi has equal representation, compared to someone from Kanowit? No, they do not - Bangi population deserves much more representations - more MPs to be just.
As I said, ALL States must be involved in the discussion - not just the Federal Government, Sabah and Sarawak. State financial allocations must be similar across the Board.
Now, sadly Federal Government(in the past and even now) seems to not treat ALL States in the Federation equally. Even now, this government is planning for a High Speed Rail(HSR) between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, thus benefiting KL,Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. Remember the Double Track system will be completed and operational only in 2025 - thus even before that system is operational, they are planning for the HSR. Have all the States received equitable attention from the Federal Government?
Joint Statement by Sarawak ROSE, BERSIH, ENGAGE and Tindak Malaysia (21 September 2024): Veto Power for East Malaysia in Dewan Negara: a realistic pathway to realize spirit of MA63 and strengthen Malaysia’s federalism
Our full position is as follows:
MA63
1. Discussion on how Malaysia’s federalism can be enhanced should be done inclusively, respectfully, factually, and honestly, without assuming ill intent of opposing views. We should acknowledge the context and considerations embedded in historical documents in the formation of Malaysia, which include the Cobbold Commission Report in 1962; the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGC Report) in 1962; the Malaysia Act 1963 (UK); the Malaysia Act 1963 (Malaysia); the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63); the Supplementary Agreement to the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the Constitution of Malaya pre-1963 and the Constitution of Malaysia in 1963.
2. In enhancing Malaysia’s federalism, MA63 should be the floor, not the ceiling. We should aim to achieve the aspirations in MA63 and be prepared to go beyond MA63 on matters that receive consensus support across the South China Sea.
Bicameral Parliament in Federalism
3. It is a common practice for federations to have a bicameral parliament. The Lower House is to be elected on the principle of equality amongst citizens – “one person, one vote, one value” (OPOVOV) – and exclusively tasked with government formation, functioning like the accelerator in a car. Functioning as the guardian of state interests and the brake to force deliberation, the Upper House is often elected on the basis of equality amongst states (hence over-representing less-populated states) and even over-representation of special states.
4. Sarawak and Sabah voters form 17% of the national electorate, and already enjoy 25% of seats in the Dewan Rakyat. Further increasing it to 35% is worsening malapportionment and violating international standards of OPOVOV. Veto power achieved in this way is less democratic, and less likely to be realized due to political objections. There is another more realistic way to achieve veto power for Sarawak and Sabah.
Senatorial Reform and East Malaysia’s Veto Power
5. Malaysia’s feeble and unelected Dewan Negara is a weak link in our federalism that requires reform, on both having elected members and expanding states’ representation. While the Malayan Senate started with 22 state representatives and 16 federal appointees, Article 45(4) of the 1957 Federal Constitution also provided an easy pathway, by way of a parliamentary act without constitutional amendment, of having a Senate entirely consisting of elected state representatives, up to three per state.
6. Regrettably, the MA63 did not enhance the states' power on the Article 45(4) pathway to create a veto bloc for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Instead, as the number of state representatives was increased from 22 to 28 with Senators from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, the federal non-geographical appointees were also increased to 22 in 1963, and eventually 40 in 1978. Today, 44 federal appointees (including two representatives for Kuala Lumpur and one each for Labuan and Putrajaya) outnumber 26 state representatives in the 70-member Senate.
7. Dewan Negara enjoys the same power with Dewan Rakyat in three aspects: (a) two-third passage of all members in both Houses is necessary for ordinary constitutional amendments, generating the veto power of either House [Article 159(3)]; (b) both Houses may initiate laws [Article 66(2)]; (c) members of both Houses can be appointed as Ministers or Deputy Ministers [Articles 42(2)(b) and 43A(1)].
8. However, Dewan Negara can only delay – not veto – financial bills passed by Dewan Rakyat for one month and non-financial bills for one year. In the current status quo, the Senate’s lack of veto power are conditionally justified by the fact that Senators are not directly elected and have no popular mandate. Not allowing Dewan Negara to defeat budgets and potentially cause governments to collapse is also not unjustified to prevent budget deadlocks or frequent changes of government.
9. Instead of cynically labelling Dewan Negara as “rubber stamp”, Malaysians should remedy its peril by realising the reform which the constitutional drafters in 1957 had prepared its pathway in Article 45(4): an entirely elected Dewan Negara, which can legitimately vie for equal power as Dewan Rakyat to act as check and balance except for defeating budgets and ousting governments. Such extensive reform of course requires detailed deliberations which may take years.
10. The veto power for East Malaysia in Dewan Negara can even be established before the 16th General Election (GE16) by simply amending Article 45(1) to add senatorial seats for Sabah and Sarawak. The exact proportion of East Malaysian senators may be negotiated and decided upon cross-party consensus.
11. As both the existing and additional Sabah and Sarawak senators would be elected by the State Legislatures (effectively appointed by the State Governments) under the existing structure, they can collectively vote down any constitutional amendment that undermines the interests of East Malaysians, thereby effectively guaranteeing the right to veto by Sarawak and Sabah to safeguard their collective interests.
12. We therefore call for Dewan Negara, both government and opposition parties to study and discourse the best proposal to give East Malaysia veto power with Senatorial seats exceeding one-third before GE16.
Inter-State Apportionment for Dewan Rakyat
13. An honest scrutiny of MA63 finds no evidence that MA63 provided for one-third parliamentary seats for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore such that Sabah and Sarawak should inherit Singapore’s share upon the latter’s exit in 1965.
14. Representation in the Federal Legislature was brought up to and discussed by the Cobbold Commission, and it recommended for the Election Commission to take into account the population of the territories, the size and their distances from the centre and the difficulty of communications in allocation of seats.
15. The IGC report and the MA63 only stated the allocation of seats for the four regions in the new 159-member Federal Parliament: Malaya, 104 (65.4%), Sarawak, 24 (15.1%), Sabah, 16 (10.0%) and Singapore, 15 (9.4%). As recommended in the IGC report, Article 161E(2)(e) of the Federal Constitution provides for the freezing of Sarawak’s and Sabah’s parliamentary representation at 15.1% and 10.0% respectively, but only for seven years up until the end of August 1970.
16. The ‘seven-years’ temporary arrangement underlines the fundamental flaw of Article 46, which allows Parliament to arbitrarily allocate seats to the states and federal territories without being bound by any formula of demographic and electoral weight. Cyclical increases of parliamentary seats, in four rounds from 1974 to 2005, have resulted in greater inequality between states. In the 15th General Election (GE15), a Selangor MP represented 167,175 voters in average, 2-3 times the average voters of his/her counterparts in Pahang (81,210 voters), Sabah (67,575) and Sarawak (62,680).
17. More problematically, as Dewan Rakyat is tasked with government formation, a 35% over-representation for the 17% East Malaysian voters means that a simple majority government can be formed with all East Malaysian parliamentarians and a mere 16% more West Malaysian parliamentarians. That would be effectively an electorally minority-backed government with majoritarian power. Such scenario is likely a recipe for political chaos that all Malaysians cannot afford to endure.
18. As advocates of clean, free and fair representation, we cannot in good conscience support even greater deviation from the “one person, one vote, one value” (OPOVOV) principle. Correction of historical marginalisation of East Malaysia in the past 61 years should be done through decentralisation and a senatorial veto-power.
Create the most viable path to achieve veto power for Sarawak and Sabah
19. Advocates of ‘Dewan Rakyat 35%’ risk putting all their eggs in one basket, which is unlikely to be realized by GE16 as the proposal would need to go through three stages:
a. A consensus within the Madani Government on the allocation of seats for all states and federal territories (not just Sabah and Sarawak) in Article 46;
b. The constitutional amendment in parliament which would be scrutinised by the Opposition; and
c. Constituency delimitation which starts immediately after amendment of Article 46 but may take two years to complete.
20. Unless newer and more concrete proposals are mooted, the sole proposal so far is by Datuk Roger Chin, former President of the Sabah Law Society, to retain Dewan Rakyat’s 222 seats but transfer 21 seats from West Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak. No Malayan states would willingly concede their seats, thereby making the realization of Sarawak and Sabah’s veto power to be contentious, acrimonious and unlikely to materialize.
21. This all-or-nothing approach is detrimental to prospects of achieving veto power for Sarawak and Sabah. By contrast, a simple addition of senatorial seats to Sarawak and Sabah can result in an immediate attainment of veto power in a prospectively elected and empowered Senate, which will also simultaneously strengthen Malaysia’s federalism in the long run.
By,
Rise of Social Efforts (ROSE)
Coalition for Clean and Free Elections (BERSIH)
ENGAGE
Tindak Malaysia
Bangi is most populous Parliamentary constituency
- Nation
-
Wednesday, 26 Jun 2024
PUTRAJAYA: Bangi has the highest population among all 222 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia with 708,300 people in 2023.
According to the Parliament and State Legislative Assembly Subnational Statistics 2024 released by the Malaysian Statistics Department on Wednesday (June 26), two more constituencies in Selangor, Kota Raja and Subang, with populations of 538,900 and 492,600 respectively, are the second and third most populous respectively.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that three constituencies in Sarawak recorded a population of fewer than 30,000, namely Kanowit with 25,300 people, followed by Lubok Antu (27,400) and Igan (28,000).
"Wangsa Maju in Kuala Lumpur is the constituency with the highest population density, with 13,587 people per square kilometre.
"Pandan in Selangor ranks second with a density of 11,713 people per square kilometre, while Jelutong in Penang is third with a density of 11,576 people per square kilometre," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Based on the demographic composition of Malaysia's population in 2023, the highest bumiputra population was recorded in the Setiu parliamentary constituency with 125,400 people. The highest number of Chinese was recorded in Kepong at 72.2% or 64,000 people.
Ipoh Barat, meanwhile, recorded the highest percentage of Indians at 26.0% or 33,500 people.
Mohd Uzir said Batu parliamentary has the highest number of working-age residents (between 15 and 64 years old) with 177,200 people, followed by Batu Kawan (132,300) people and Kepong (83,700).
"The highest number of young residents aged up to 14 years was recorded in several constituencies, including Putrajaya with 43,000 people, Gua Musang (40,800) and Tumpat (61,000),
In the context of educational and health infrastructure in Malaysia, Baram in Sarawak recorded the highest number of schools and facilities, with 86 schools, including 77 primary schools and nine secondary schools, as well as 22 health clinics.
As for basic amenities, he said Pulai has the most petrol stations with 71, Bangi has 66 launderettes, Lahad Datu has 618 grocery stores, Petaling Jaya has 232 pharmacies and Subang has 140 restaurants. – Bernama
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