THERE is not a single soul in the Semenanjung (Peninsular Malaysia) who wants Putrajaya to give Sabah and Sarawak 35% of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
Even if the MA63 (Malaysia Agreement 1963) has promised Sabah and Sarawak 35% of the seats or if former premier Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had made similar promise a couple of years ago, none of it matter.
This is because there is not a single person in Semenanjung – be it a Malay, Chinese or Indian – who wants Sabah and Sarawak to get more seats in the Dewan Rakyat then the ones that they already have.
The number of seats that you have in the Dewan Rakyat represent the ultimate source of power in the country. If you control the Dewan Rakyat, you can choose the Prime Minister (PM) and you can even amend the constitution.
The Malays and non-Malays in Semenanjung have been fiercely competing to control the Dewan Rakyat for the last couple of elections.
The competition for the control of the Dewan Rakyat has become so relentless that the Malays and non-Malays have even been willing to risk the goodwill in their relationship and up the ante on the race and religious rhetoric in the peninsular for the sake of gaining control of the Dewan Rakyat.
Unlikely to gain consent
Considering how much the Malays and non-Malay in the peninsular have risked in order to gain control of the Dewan Rakyat, the last they are going to abide is for East Malaysians to sashay in and take 35% of seats of the Dewan Rakyat as if they are entitled to it.
Even PMX Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is unlikely to be keen to give the East Malaysians 35% of the Dewan Rakyat seats.
Anwar has waged a 25-year bruising campaign to conquer Putrajaya. He went to prison twice and endured the sort of humiliation that would have driven a lesser man to suicide tin his quest to assume the throne in Putrajaya.
Most recently, he had seized six opposition MPs in a move that has been widely criticised as shameful in order to strengthen his position in the Dewan Rakyat.
Considering all that he has done and sacrificed in order to strengthen his grip on Putrajaya, the last thing we can expect Anwar to do is just give up the fruits of his labour just because Sabah and Sarawak believe they are entitled to it.
Power is never given. It has to be taken. If you can’t take power, you have not earned it by merit.
The US and China are two most powerful countries in the world not because anyone gave them power. They are powerful because they waited for the opportune time before taking it.
If Sabah and Sarawak want 35% of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat which will put them just 15% shy of gaining the ultimate power in the Federation, they can’t expect it to just be delivered to them on a silver platter. They will have to earn it.
Missed opportunity
If Sabah and Sarawak try to take 35% of the Dewan Rakyat seats, it might be a blessing in disguise for Anwar for finally he will have something that will enable Semenanjung folk – be they Chinese, Malay or Indian – to unite and rally behind him to foil Sabah and Sarawak from achieving their ultimate goal.
As for the claim that Sabah and Sarawak deserve the 35% of Dewan Rakyat seats by way of right, I am sure that if you put enough lawyers on the case, they will be able to cast aspersion on the claim.
Afterall, the 35% of seats was originally promised to Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore during the formation of Malaysia.
When Singapore broke away from the Federation in 1965, the opinion that Singapore’s 10% of the seats in Dewan Rakyat should go to Sabah and Sarawak remains an opinion. This was never a part of the official agreement.
Sabah and Sarawak have also likely lost the window of opportunity to reclaim 35% of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
The best time for Sabah and Sarawak to have gotten 35% seats in the Dewan rakyat was in the first two years of Anwar’s reign when his grip on Putrajaya was still shaky.
During that period of time, Anwar needed the support of Sabah and Sarawak to maintain his rule of Putrajaya, thus could have conceded to the Bornean states demands if they had pressed for it.
However, Anwar has since consolidated his position in Putrajaya. Even without the support of the ruling parties of Sabah and Sarawak, he might still be able to maintain his rule.
PMX flying high
The fact that he has won handsomely in Nenggiri and Mahkota recently is also an indication that his reign has won over popular support.
The fact that he has significantly increased the wages of civil servants and is likely to increase the minimum wage to a handsome RM2,000 in the coming budget will likely endear him to the masses even more.
That the ringgit has been doing unprecedentedly well is also likely boosting Anwar’s popularity to a hitherto unsurpassed high.
That the Bornean states neglected to claim 35% of the seats when they were in an advantageous position vis-à-vis Putrajaya but are only now pressing for the claim when they have lost their advantage upon Putrajaya is ill timed.
At the state that things stand today, I reckon that if the East Malaysians are ever to get the 35% of seats in the Dewan Rakyat, it will only occur after the West Malaysian coalitions/parties like Pakatan Harapan (PH), Perikatan Nasional (PN) or UMNO make an inroad in the politics of Sabah and Sarawak.
If PH, PN or UMNO emerge as the ruling parties or the kingmakers in Sabah and Sarawak after the Sabah and Sarawak state election in 2025 and 2026 respectively, then it might be possible that Putrajaya will give 35% of the Dewan Rakyat seats to Sabah and Sarawak.
Whatever the final solution is, one thing is for sure is that Semenanjung folks – both the people and the leaders alike – are likely only going to accept an arrangement that it is Semenanjung which shall retain the power to rule the Federation.
Sabah and Sarawak can dream otherwise but no such thing is ever going to happen because in all four corners of the world for as long as history remembers, nobody is entitled to power – you must earn it.
To earn power, you must be able to take it by merit. Power is never given; it can only be taken by those who think they deserve it. – Oct 1, 2024
Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a roving tutor who loves politics, philosophy and psychology.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
