Leiking: Table delineation of seats or face crisis in Sabah
KOTA KINABALU: The Federal Government should table the delineation report for the 13 new state seats to avoid a constitutional crisis in Sabah, Parti Warisan Sabah deputy president Darell Leiking said.
He said the Prime Minister could table a Minister’s Motion on the final Sabah delineation report submitted last year by the Election Commission (EC) during the current Parliament meeting which ends on Thursday, April 5.
The Penampang MP said the Minister’s Motion could be tabled on Monday, and debated and passed on Thursday under Parliament’s Standing Order.
Raising concerns over a possible constitutional crisis if the increase from 60 to 73 state seats is not approved by Parliament, Leiking said Sabah will slip into uncharted territory.
“It will be against the state’s constitution for the EC to hold elections for 60 seats when the state constitution requires 73 seats to be filled,” he said.
He added that the EC submitted the final delineation report to the Prime Minister on Feb 21 last year after the Sabah government gazetted the amendments on Aug 17, 2016.
“In my question posed to the Prime Minister during the Budget debate in November 2017, the Prime Minister, through Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, confirmed in writing that the EC had completed its study on the delineation of Sabah’s 13 new state seats.
“She also confirmed in writing that the EC’s final report was duly submitted to the Prime Minister on Feb 21, 2017,” he said, adding that all processes had been completed in accordance with the Federal Constitution.
Leiking said the explanation by Sabah State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman on Wednesday that the state government wanted to include the 13 new seats only when the Parliament seats were increased in future did not make sense.
“Then why the rush to amend and gazette the Sabah Constitution over the increase in state seats in August 2016?” he asked.