EC Parliamentary Expansion Proposals For Sarawak Pending Required Constitutional Process

KUCHING, Oct 14 – There is no proposal from the Election Commission (EC) yet to increase Sarawak’s parliamentary seats, as the formal constitutional process required for seat expansion has not been completed.

Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali provided the clarification during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

Responding to a question from Chieng Jin Ek (GPS-Bukit Assek) regarding the status of the EC’s redelineation plans, Sharifah Hasidah explained that the Federal Government’s agreement in principle to expand Sabah and Sarawak’s parliamentary representation is only the initial step of a multi-stage process.

Constitutional Framework, Delimitation Steps, and State Assembly Expansion

Sharifah Hasidah detailed the legal sequence for parliamentary expansion and distinguished it from ongoing state redelineation:

• Article 46 Requirement: The composition of the Dewan Rakyat is governed by Article 46 of the Federal Constitution. Any increase in parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak requires a constitutional amendment passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament before new seats legally exist.
• EC Delimitation Process: Once the constitutional amendment is passed, formal redelineation will be carried out by the EC in accordance with Article 113 and the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
• EC Statement Context: Sharifah Hasidah emphasized that the EC’s recent statement and the Federal Government’s agreement in principle represent different stages of the exact same constitutional timeline.
• Sarawak DUN Seat Expansion: The proposed parliamentary seat increase is separate from Sarawak’s state constituency expansion, which will increase the number of state assembly (DUN) seats from 82 to 99 following approval by the state legislature last year.
• State Redelineation Timeline: Public inspection for the state constituency redelineation exercise took place from September 1 to 30, 2026; however, the EC has indicated that the newly created state constituencies may not be finalized in time for the upcoming Sarawak state election.

The Sarawak government continues to engage federal authorities to ensure the constitutional provisions under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) are fully realized.

–NMT