He said Sabah would not oppose such a good suggestion given that some constituencies in Sabah and Sarawak were much larger than the ones in Peninsular Malaysia.

“Take the size of Kinabatangan for instance. It is much larger than Pahang but while Pahang has 14 MPs, Kinabatangan only has one.

“The same with Perlis, which is smaller in size than Lahad Datu. While the entire Sabah east coast only has one MP, Perlis has four,” he said after launching a permanent food production garden here today.

Present were Sabah Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Junz Wong and Rural Development Minister Ewon Benedick.

Shafie said the Sabah government will give its full support to Sarawak in realising the desire to increase the number of seats for both East Malaysian states.

He said it was more difficult to manage a constituency in Sabah or Sarawak due to its size. For example, campaign work would take a longer time than in a constituency in Peninsular Malaysia.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg and his deputy, James Masing, had suggested the increase in the number of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak.

Shafie said this call was not new and was not related to the state rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

He said the number of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak had not been increased since Singapore left the federation in 1965.

“In view of Singapore leaving Malaysia in 1965, the number of federal seats in Peninsular Malaysia was increased, while that for Sabah and Sarawak were not increased.”

Shafie said he also didn’t take to heart that Masing had scoffed at the idea of him being named as the Pakatan Harapan’s choice for prime minister.

He said political matters should be kept aside when it came to matters related to the development of Sabah and Sarawak.

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