Parliament: Najib moves to increase Sarawak state seats to 82

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tabled a motion in Parliament to adopt the the Election Commission's recommendations on the Sarawak delineation exercise.

The motion is to increase the state legislative assembly seats from 71 to 82.

The new electoral boundaries will take effect before the 11th Sarawak state elections due next year.

The exercise will not affect the 31 parliamentary constituencies in the state, which will remain the same. There will, however, be changes in the boundaries of some constituencies due to the new state seats.

According to Bernama, the new state seats are Batu Kitang, Stakan, Serembu, Bukit Semuja, Gedong, Kabong, Tellian, Bukit Goram, Murum, Samalaju and Mulu.

Najib said the exercise was necessary as there had been an 18% increase in the number of voters in Sarawak since the last exercise in 2005.

He said EC's recommendations were intended to reduce the burden on elected representatives, especially where communication and transportation facilities were very limited.

"It is hoped that the recommendations will assist the wakil rakyat in serving more effectively and increase the economic status and development in rural areas," he said when tabling the motion at the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

The EC report on the Sarawak delimitation and delineation exercises was gazetted on Aug 21 and presented to Najib.