Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama) urges Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi to revise the proposal of having five appointed state assembly members to become party-list seats that can increase women’s representation and facilitate the championing of issues and under-represented groups.
Projek Sama welcomes the appointment of state-wide legislators if they would enhance democratic representation by improving proportionality between parties or giving voices to under-represented communities or issues.
However, the proposed Law of the Constitution of 1895 (Second Part) (Amendment) Bill 2026 will only create five bonus seats to increase the menteri besar’s current majority from 71% (40 out of 56 seats) to 74% (45/61).
Having five cheerleaders for the government is not only a waste of taxpayers’ money. It also dilutes the voices of elected members and weakens legislative scrutiny of the executive.
The appointments would be made through a resolution passed by a simple majority, which any functioning government is able to command, and royal assent, which, constitutionally, the ruler must give as per the menteri besar’s advice.
These appointed members may subsequently be terminated by the ruler upon the advice of the menteri besar, who need not provide reasons, as per the proposed Article 15B of the State Constitution.
Projek Sama calls upon the Johor state government to withdraw the proposed constitutional amendment bill, which is expected to be tabled for second reading on 7 May.
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If the state government insists on its plan to bulldoze the bill, we urge backbenchers and opposition assembly members to vote down the constitutional amendment bill in its current form to safeguard voters’ money and mandates.
Johor is the fourth Malaysian state to have appointed assembly members as bonus seats, after Sabah, Terengganu and Pahang. Of all four states, Terengganu is the most progressive, where appointed assembly members – while being controlled by the menteri bersar – function as top-up lawmakers for under-represented constituencies. Terengganu can appoint up to four women or non-Muslims as assembly members if no woman or non-Muslim is elected to the House.
Sabah’s six appointed seats and Pahang’s five are all government’s bonus seats and, in most cases, allocated among state ruling parties.
Appointed after the 2022 general election, Pahang’s five seats were treated as patronage given to Umno, the MCA, PKR and Amanah. The five appointees’ merit has yet to be proven from their legislative performance.
Emulating Pahang’s design, Johor lacks credibility to claim that these bonus seats would be worth the taxpayers’ money.
We urge the Johor state government to modify its proposal with these three features:
- Equally distribute the seats to all parties based on their vote share in the state election, and requiring every coalition or party to nominate five candidates in a fixed sequence, such that voters can have an indirect choice in state elections as to who should hold the appointed seats
- If the state assembly has fewer than 30% women assembly members, prioritise women candidates when filling up the seats from party nominee
- Set up more legislative committees on policy matters for the appointed assembly members, who have the whole state as their constituency, to serve the specific sectors or interest groups through public hearings, scrutiny of state policy and administration, and deliberation on laws and policies
The first feature would turn the appointed seats into “closed-list proportional seats” and our electoral system into a Mixed-Member Majoritarian system with one ballot.
This innovation would allow a more inclusive representation in state assembly and spearhead a transition nationwide as Malaysian politics gets more fragmented.
Going by the 2022 state election result in which Barisan Nasional gained 43% of votes, followed by Pakatan Harapan’s 26% and Perikatan Nasional’s 24%, the five appointed seats may be distributed under some formula as three to BN and one each to PH and PN.
By conceding only two appointed seats to the opposition, BN can take a moral high ground to promote similar systems in states controlled by PH and PN for them to reciprocate. This would allow BN to increase its representation in the northern four states, as well as Selangor and Penang.
The second feature would help the Johor state assembly to become the first legislature to reach the international benchmark of 30% women members. Currently, 14 (25%) out of the 56 assembly members in Johor are women.
If all five appointed assembly members were men, the women’s share would drop to 14 out of 61 seats, ie 23%.
With a new total of 61, the 30% benchmark would be reached with 19 women assembly members. This means if the appointments were to take effect now, all five new appointees must be women.
By combining the first and second features, Johor would be the first state to introduce “women-only additional seats” in Malaysia. As the leading advocate of such seats, Projek Sama is ever ready to assist the Johor menteri besar in designing and implementing this gender-friendly initiative that would be aligned with sustainable development goal 5 (on gender equality).
The third feature is necessary regardless of whether the first two features are implemented. Appointed assembly members have no specific geographical constituencies to serve but instead might be serving specific interest groups or causes such as workers, single mothers, gig workers and the environment. Not establishing legislative committees for them and other assembly members to better do their work would make their appointments a sheer waste of public funds. – Projek Sama, 6 May
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.
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