Rise of Social Efforts (Rose) and Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama) urge the Electoral Commission to increase the number of state constituencies in P219 Miri and P218 Sibuti from seven to eight, and to distribute them more equitably: five for Miri and three for Sibuti.
While Rose and Projek Sama commend the commission for many improvements in its first electoral redrawing proposal for Sarawak published on 1 September, we emphasise that the worsened disparity between parliamentary constituencies is unacceptable.
It violates the Federal Constitution’s requirement for constituencies within the same state to contain an “approximately equal” (“lebih kurang sama banyak”) number of voters. (subsection 2(c)1, The Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution).
Subsection 2(c) in the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution reads: “…the number of electors within each constituency ought to be approximately equal throughout the unit of review except that, having regard to the greater difficulty of reaching electors in the country districts and the other disadvantages facing rural constituencies, a measure of weightage for area ought to be given to such constituencies, to the extent that in some cases a rural constituency may contain as little as one half of the electors of any urban constituency;…”
Currently, the maximum-minimum ratio across parliamentary constituencies in Sarawak stands at 5.11:1, comparing the largest, P219 Miri (150,924 voters), to the smallest, P207 Igan (only 29,509 voters).
Under the commission’s new proposal, P219 Miri’s voter base would swell to 158,411, while the smallest constituency would become P203 Lubok Antu with just 28,458 voters. This results in a maximum-to-minimum ratio of 5.57:1.
If challenged in court, can the commission defend 5.57 as “approximately equal” to 1?
- Sign up for Aliran's free daily email updates or weekly newsletters or both
- Make a one-off donation to Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN), Maybank a/c 507246118995 or CIMB a/c 8004240948
- Make a regular pledge or periodic auto-donation to Aliran
- Become an Aliran member
When Malaysia was formed in 1963, the maximum-to-minimum ratio was categorically capped at 2:1. Although this cap was subsequently removed in 1973, the commission should still strive to maintain the 1963 standard.
We therefore propose breaking down the five state constituencies in the proposed P219 Miri area to six, and placing one of these state constituencies under P218 Sibuti.
This adjustment can reduce P219 Miri’s electorate to 132,844 (still the largest in Sarawak) and lower the state’s maximum-to-minimum ratio to 4.67:1. While 4.67:1 remains far off the 1963 standard of 2:1, it is at least an improvement.
Under the commission’s current proposal, Sarawak’s largest state constituency (N87 Piasau, with 34,546 voters), second largest (N90 Tudan, 32,078 voters) and fourth largest (N88 Pujut, 31,520 voters) would all be concentrated within Miri.
This underlines the “double under-representation” endured by Miri voters, at both the Parliament and Sarawak legislature levels.
Why should the city of Miri be politically punished when it contributed 7.8% of Sarawak’s gross domestic product (GDP) – the third highest amongst Sarawak’s local authorities, behind only Bintulu (29.7%) and Kuching (19.9%) (2020 figures)?
Under our proposal, the largest state constituency in Sarawak would be N90 Tudan with 28,270 voters. Compared against the proposed smallest state constituency, N76 Pelagus (10,372 voters), the maximum-to-minimum ratio for state constituencies would drop significantly from 3.33:1 to 2.73:1, bringing it closer to the 1963 standard.
In terms of ethnic composition, both parliamentary constituencies would be mixed, with an ethnic Iban plurality (32%) in P218 Sibuti and an ethnic Chinese plurality (47%) in P219 Miri.
The ethnic Malay-Melanau-Kedayan would be the second largest group in both constituencies, comprising 30% in P218 Sibuti and 23% in P219 Miri.
At the state seat level within P219 Miri, there are two Chinese-majority constituencies and three mixed constituencies (two with Chinese pluralities and one with an Iban plurality.)
In P218 Sibuti, all three state constituencies would be mixed, with the Chinese, Iban and Malay-Melanau-Kedayan each forming the largest ethnic group in one of the seats.
Map 1. An alternative map of P218 Sibuti and P219 Miri (Proposal details are available here)
Furthermore, the commission should consolidate unjustifiably small constituencies into fewer seats.
While subsection 2(c) of the Thirteenth Schedule provides for exceptions to the “approximately equal” rule – stating that “having regard to the greater difficulty of reaching electors in the country districts and the other disadvantages facing rural constituencies, a measure of weightage for area ought to be given to such constituencies” – this provision is not a blank cheque to create small constituencies simply because they are rural.
To be entitled to ‘area weightage’, constituencies must have vast area size and present genuine transportation challenges. This justification does not apply to at least nine of the commission’s proposed constituencies: N31 Gedong, N33 Sadong Jaya, N53 Igan, N75 Melekun, N52 Matu, N47 Kalaka, N68 Dalat, N74 Bukit Goram and N32 Simunjan.
The commission should consolidate these constituencies to free up some seats for more deserving areas. One such example is the three super-small constituencies within P200 Batang Sadong, which could be consolidated into just two (Tables 1-2).
Map 2 – An alternative map of P200 Batang Sadong (The proposed map can be accessed here.
While welcoming commission chair Ramlan Harun’s commitment to prioritise quality over speed in this redrawing exercise ahead of the Sarawak assembly’s automatic dissolution in 2027, we also urge the commission to adopt the following key procedural reforms:
- Conduct meaningful, interactive question-and-answer sessions during local enquiries, with representations on constituencies with unchanged boundaries in the first display duly heard and considered.
- Provide clear justifications for accepting or rejecting representations, thereby enhancing public confidence in the impartiality of the process.
- Ensure that the second display contains fully updated and accurate information, including machine-readable maps and landmass area data for all 31 parliamentary and 99 state constituencies.
🔗 Read the full 24-page joint submission with recommendations here. – Rose / Projek Sama
The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.
- 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
