Responding to criticism of the decision to add 17 more seats, Fadillah said the legislative assembly also took into account the state’s ethnic makeup and administrative needs.

“Some say this criterion should be based on population size. However, we have to look not only at the size of the population, but the size of the area as well as (to ensure fairer) representation of ethnic groups,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

He said Sarawak is almost as large as Peninsular Malaysia in land area. (Sarawak covers 124,450 sq km, while the peninsula covers 132,490 sq km.)

Fadillah said the addition of state assembly seats meant there will be more elected representatives for rural areas, which would allow for the voices of the local community to be heard when it came to formulating policies.

“I support this move because it will provide more effective administration for us to develop Sarawak,” he told reporters after attending an event at his parliamentary constituency of Petra Jaya.

Last week, the Sarawak assembly passed a bill to increase the number of seats in the assembly from 82 to 99. State minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who tabled the bill, said the increase was warranted to accommodate population growth, urban sprawl and vast rural areas.

However, the decision came under fire from Thomas Fann, chairman of electoral reform group Engage, who said there was no justification for adding more seats. He said Sarawak was already among the most over-represented of all state assemblies.

He said electoral imbalances would be worsened and public resources placed under strain.

A former deputy chairman of the Election Commission, Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, said Sarawak’s decision appeared to be politically motivated.