PBB’s Abdul Karim insists Sarawak’s 17 new constituencies were passed correctly and calls on Parliament to endorse them swiftly.
KUCHING: A senior leader from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has mounted a defence of the state government’s decision to expand Sarawak’s state constituencies from 82 to 99, dismissing growing criticism from civil rights groups and urging Parliament to endorse the 17 new seats ahead of the impending Sarawak state elections.
Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) information chief Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who also serves as Sarawak’s Minister for Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture, told a press conference that the legislation was tabled and passed through the correct procedures and with near-total majority support in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly.
Karim was unequivocal in his position on the division of authority between the state and federal legislatures.
“The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the highest law-making body in Sarawak while Parliament is the highest law-maker in the country. As far as Sarawak state constituencies are concerned, we in Sarawak have the authority to increase the number of state seats,” he said.
He added that GPS’ expectation of Parliament is straightforward — formal endorsement, not obstruction.
“The role of Parliament is to endorse it, so Parliament should endorse it accordingly.
“We want Parliament to approve the new 17 Sarawak constituencies in time for our coming Sarawak State Elections,” he said.
Karim also addressed one of the central concerns raised by critics, stating that GPS has not yet allocated any of the 17 new seats among its coalition partners.
Karim’s remarks were a direct response to a joint statement issued by five civil society organisations — Rise of Social Efforts Sarawak (ROSE), BERSIH, ENGAGE, Tindak Malaysia and Project Stability and Accountability Malaysia (SAMA) — which had raised serious concerns about the speed and manner in which the new constituencies were created.
The coalition alleged that the 17 seats were drawn up to benefit GPS, and in particular PBB, with evidence suggesting the parties were already dividing the new seats among themselves internally.
The groups also noted that the new constituencies have yet to receive Parliamentary approval, and that the Election Commission has not formally commenced the redelineation process for Sarawak’s existing electoral boundaries.
“We urge the EC to look into this critical issue with full transparency and accountability to the rakyat,” the coalition had stated, calling for any redelineation to be subject to proper public consultation and to take into account population size, geographic spread, and ethnic composition of affected communities.
The Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill 2025 was tabled by Karim himself at a special one-day sitting of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly on 7 July 2025.
During the tabling, he cited Sarawak’s growing voter base — following the reduction of the minimum voting age from 21 to 18 — as well as the state’s vast geographical landscape and the need for stronger rural representation as justifications for the expansion.
Karim also pointed to Article 113(2) of the Federal Constitution, which permits electoral boundary reviews in a state after eight years. With Sarawak’s last redelineation carried out in 2015, he maintained the timing was both appropriate and constitutionally sound.
The urgency behind the push for Parliamentary endorsement is tied directly to the political calendar. The current Sarawak State Assembly term expires on 18 December 2026, with widespread expectation that GPS will call for early elections following the Gawai Dayak festivities in June.
GPS currently holds 80 of the 82 state seats, with the remaining two — Padungan and Pending — held by Sarawak DAP.
The civil society coalition has argued that approving 17 additional seats under these conditions, without a transparent independent redelineation process, risks further entrenching GPS’s dominance rather than genuinely improving democratic representation for Sarawakians.
