(June 5): A Sabah opposition leader said the Election Commission (EC) should obtain legal advice on the formation of Malaysia which states that one-third of Dewan Rakyat seats should be allocated to Sabah and Sarawak.

Star Sabah chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said it was irresponsible for the EC chairman to say that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 was not binding.

"It is a typical mindset of colonial-like masters from Malaya ignoring the basis of the formation of Malaysia,” said Kitingan in response to EC chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof’s statement that it would follow the Federal Constitution and that the Malaysia Agreement was not binding.

Kitingan said Aziz should read the agreement himself, in particular the 20-points which guarantee Sabah's rights, and the Inter-Governmental Committee Report as well as the Cobbold Commission Report on the forming of Malaysia.

He said the EC should heed the advice of the Sarawak senior minister Tan Sri James Masing that breach of the agreement would render the Federation of Malaysia null and void.

On Wednesday, Aziz told The Malaysian Insider that the EC would only stick to provisions in the constitution in carrying out its redelineation exercise. The EC had dismissed a proposal to allocated one-third of seats in the Dewan Rakyat or lower house of Parliament to the Bornean states of Sabah and Sarawak.

This allocation is stipulated in the Malaysia Agreement.

"Any allocation of seats must be dealt with according to the constitution and not by way of any agreement which will not be binding on the EC," Aziz said.

At present, Sarawak and Sabah only account for 57 of the 222 parliamentary seats, which is far below the one-third figure of 74 seats.

Last week, the Sabah Solidarity Movement submitted a memorandum to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to restore the one-third veto power to Sabah and Sarawak as constitutional safeguards.

The memorandum was signed by local Sabah coalition chairman Datuk Mohd Noor Mansoor, Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah chairman Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, Sabah Progressive Party chairman Datuk Yong Teck Lee, Sabah People’s Rights Movement president Narawai Ahmad and Kitingan.

Kitingan said one-third of Dewan Rakyat seats for Sabah and Sarawak should be restored to show both territories had equal status with states in the peninsula.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has been supportive of Sabah opposition leaders in their call for one-third of parliamentary seats to be set aside for Sabah and Sarawak.

Constitutional lawyer Syahredzan Johan, however, said both the lower and upper houses of Parliament could decide the apportionment of the one-third seats to Sabah and Sarawak.

"In 1963, the one-third seats were allocated to the Borneo states and Singapore but the island republic left the federation in 1965. So, the agreement needs a review," he said, adding that the EC was correct to stick to provisions in the constitution. – The Malaysian Insider