KUCHING: The 17 new Sarawak state seats proposed under the latest electoral boundary review may not be ready for the next state election, with the Election Commission (EC) yet to determine whether the process can be completed before the state assembly is dissolved.
EC member Dr Mohd Faisal Syam Abdol Hazis said the timing depended on two factors: completion of the boundary review and the date the Sarawak state assembly is dissolved. “First, we need to complete this boundary review before the 17 new seats can be enforced. The EC has been given two years to complete the process.
“The second is that we do not know when the Sarawak state assembly will be dissolved. What we know is that the Sarawak state assembly will automatically be dissolved in February 2027,” he said.
He was speaking as a guest on the Influencer@Japen programme broadcast via the Sarawak Information Department’s (Japen) Facebook page on Tuesday.
On Sept 1, the EC began displaying notices on proposed new electoral constituencies and changes to the names of constituencies in Sarawak.
The notices will be displayed until Sept 30 at several district offices across Sarawak to allow members of the public to submit objections to the proposals.
According to the notices, the EC, pursuant to Clause (2) of Article 113 of the Federal Constitution, had reviewed the division of Sarawak into federal and state electoral constituencies.
The review proposed 17 new state constituencies, while another 10 existing constituencies were proposed to have their names changed.
One federal constituency in Sarawak was also proposed to have its name changed.
Mohd Faisal Syam said several stages had to be completed before the 17 new constituencies could be implemented, beginning with the current public display of the proposed boundaries.
“If there are objections, we have to conduct a local inquiry. That will also take time. After the objection period, the EC needs to sit again and examine all the objections.
“Those that are valid, we will accept and improve. After that, we have a second display for one month as well. Once everything is completed, we will submit the final report to the Prime Minister,” he said.
