KUCHING: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof described the increase in the number of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly seats to 99 as the right move, based on the real needs of the state, which has an area almost equal to Peninsular Malaysia.
Fadillah, who is also the Member of Parliament for Petra Jaya, said the decision was based on research and debate at the state level, besides taking into account factors such as the size of the area, ethnic diversity and administrative needs, not simply based on the number of residents.
“Some say this criterion should be based on population size… however, we have to look not only at population size, but also at the size of the area and representation of ethnic groups because Sarawak is almost as large as Peninsular Malaysia.
“I support this move because it will provide more effective administration for us to develop Sarawak,” he told reporters after attending the ‘AI for MY Future’ course for Petra Jaya parliamentary constituency at the Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (CENTEXS) in Kuching, today.
Fadillah said with the addition of state assembly seats, more rural areas will have their own elected representatives, thus allowing the voices of the local community to be brought to the state policy-making stage.
Asked if the move was related to the demands under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), he stressed that the main focus was on administrative efficiency.
“I cannot say that (part of MA63), but what is more important is that we focus on administering Sarawak more effectively and efficiently,” he said.
On July 7, the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly passed the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (Composition of Membership) Bill 2025 to add 17 new seats, bringing the total number of seats to 99 from 82 previously.
Touching on the pilot project of the artificial intelligence (AI) course for the Petra Jaya parliamentary constituency, Fadillah said a total of 108 participants, the majority of whom were community leaders, had undergone the course to master basic skills such as data analysis and document preparation in daily affairs.
He said the ultimate goal of the programme in collaboration with Microsoft is to produce a group of trainees who would then be able to train local communities, especially in rural areas.
“The effectiveness of this programme will be assessed by Microsoft before it can be expanded to the entire state… If we can identify the locations of communities that need assistance through data, we can plan more accurately and efficiently,” he said. – Bernama
