Kuching: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) must explain to Sarawakians why the state has not been allocated additional parliamentary seats despite the increase in the number of state constituencies, said DAPSY Sarawak Organising Secretary Chong Hong Hien.
Chong said the Election Commission’s latest announcement on the delineation of electoral constituencies had exposed a contradiction in the argument previously used by GPS leaders to justify increasing the number of seats in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly.
He pointed out that during debates in the State Legislative Assembly last year, GPS lawmakers repeatedly argued that increasing the number of state seats was necessary to pave the way for Sarawak to secure additional parliamentary seats.
“However, with the latest delineation exercise confirming that Sarawak will not receive any additional parliamentary seats, it is clear that the argument put forward by GPS to justify the increase in state seats has fallen apart,” he said.
Chong described the previous argument as “hollow”, saying Sarawak’s parliamentary representation has remained unchanged despite the increase in state constituencies.
“What is even more telling is that, to date, not a single GPS leader has come forward to explain why Sarawak has not been granted additional parliamentary seats.
“Instead, there are even GPS leaders calling on voters to accept the Election Commission’s latest delineation exercise,” he said.
He said that if securing additional parliamentary seats was one of the main reasons GPS cited for increasing state seats, GPS should now take a clear position and oppose the latest delineation exercise, since that objective has clearly not been achieved.
“Rather than asking Sarawakians to accept the outcome simply, GPS should explain why the parliamentary seats have not increased and state clearly whether it agrees with the Election Commission’s decision,” Chong said.
He also called on GPS leaders to stand by the arguments they made last year.
“If parliamentary seats have not increased despite the increase in state seats, then GPS should stand by its own argument and oppose this delineation exercise, rather than asking the people of Sarawak to accept it as a fait accompli,” he said.
