Kota Kinabalu: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak) Datuk Mustapha Sakmud will propose splitting the Sepanggar parliamentary constituency into two to address its growing voter population.
He said the move would also facilitate the channelling of additional development allocations to the area, adding that Sepanggar is one the parliamentary that he would proposed for additional parliamentary in Sabah.
“Sepanggar currently had about 130,000 registered voters, making it the parliamentary constituency with the highest number of voters in Sabah.
“I will propose that we add another parliamentary seat in Sabah, one of them is Sepanggar. I will try to work on dividing it into two,” he said.
He was speaking at the Sepanggar Parliamentary Mooncake festival in conjunction with the Malaysia Day held at Kolombong Plaza on Saturday.
Mustapha said the proposal could involve the existing State Legislative Assembly (DUN) constituencies of Darau and Karambunai, as well as possible changes involving Inanam, Manggatal and Kolombong, for example.
He said the details could be discussed further, including the possibility of ensuring representation from various communities, including the Chinese, Kadazan-Dusun and Muslim Bumiputera communities.
According to him, creating an additional parliamentary seat and a new State Assembly seat would also enable more development allocations to be channelled to the area.
“With two parliamentary seats, we can secure two parliamentary allocations and add another DUN, bringing in more allocations for the people,” he said.
Mustapha stressed that the priority should be resolving the people’s problems rather than engaging in political disputes.
“We must respect the choices made by the people and work together for their benefit,” he said.
He also called on residents to approach him and their elected representatives with issues affecting them, including water supply problems, so that the relevant authorities could take action.
Mustapha also told that he will have an appointment with the Election Commission on Tuesday to discuss about the additional parliamentary proposal for Sabah and Sarawak.
“I will pay a courtesy call on the EC Chairman this Tuesday which is specifically to look into how to increase the number of parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak,” “I do not want this to remain merely a policy matter without implementation. As the Minister responsible, it is my duty to ensure that this policy can be implemented.
“So, I want to know the processes involved and the timeline. I need that. I may ask the EC to make a presentation, and based on that presentation, we can bring the matter to the Cabinet for preliminary discussions,” he said.
