The contest between East and West Malaysia for the 35 percent agenda heats up

At the end of the day, if it has 35 percent of the seats, it might be in a position to replace Semenanjung as the paramount power in the federation. 

Nehru Sathiamoorthy

In recent weeks, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak have been increasingly clamouring for 35 percent of the parliament seats.

As expected, both Sabah and Sarawak are unanimous in wanting 35 percent of the parliament seats to be allocated to them.

Last week, despite having Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in attendance, Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg had publicly asked for one-third of parliamentary seats while speaking at a community event in Kapit.

A couple days ago, both the Chief Minister of Sabah Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and the leader of the opposition Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal,  have also expressed support for the initiative by Sabah and Sarawak to secure one-third representation in Parliament.

Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal told reporters today that it is time for an increase in parliamentary constituencies, as by convention, they can be redelineated every 10 years.

“I fully agree with Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor on this matter.

“I will give my full support if it is brought to Parliament,” Shafie said.

Despite their united stance, it is doubtful as to whether the East Malaysian states will get what it is seeking for.

Sabah and Sarawak might seek the 35 percent of the seats in the parliament as a means to secure and protect its right, but at the end of the day, if it has 35 percent of the seats, it might be in a position to replace Semenanjung as the paramount power in the federation.

For the same reason that the ruling and opposition parties of Sabah and Sarawak are uniting to obtain the 35 percent of seats from Putrajaya, the ruling and opposition parties of Semenanjung will also likely unite to prevent it from happening.

Let us also not forget that Sabah and Sarawak cannot do anything else other than ask for 35 percent of seats.

They cannot, for example, force Semenanjung to give them the seats. They cannot, simply because they do not have the muscles to do that to Semenanjung.

While to Sabah and Sarawak, Semenanjung might look like it is in a state of weakness and disarray, what with its leaders engaged in a vicious and prolonged battle for the control of Putrajaya, and its people also looking like they are torn apart by racial, lingual and religious differences, Sabah and Sarawak needs to understand that underlining this infighting is underlined by the desire by the various leaders, political parties and races in Semenanjung to obtain control over the parliament.

Considering how relentless everybody in Semenanjung is fighting for the control of the parliament, what chances does Sabah and Sarawak think that it will have, in getting Semenanjung to just give to it what its own people and leaders have been fighting amongst themselves to have?

If the leaders, political parties and people of Semenanjung feel that the Bornean states are going to snatch away what what they have been fighting for decades amongst themselves to control, the chances are high that they will put behind their quarrels, and unite to prevent the East Malaysians from achieving its aim.

Conversely, the leaders and people of Sabah and Sarawak might look like they are united in their pursuit of the 35 percent of parliament seats, but the appearance might be more illusory than real.

The leadership of East Malaysia, for example, needs Putrajaya much more than they are leading their people to believe.

Take Sarawak for example. The top leadership of Sarawak does not reflect the ethnic composition of Sarawak. In other words, the top leaders of Sarawak did not reach their leadership position primarily through the support of its people. A big part of why they are leaders is because they have a close relationship with Putrajaya.

If the top leaders of Sarawak are unable to convince Putrajaya to give it the 35 percent it desires, they will have to go to their people and ask their people to rally behind them to take on Putrajaya, but it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do that, because if they did, their people might ask for secession, and the top leaders of Sarawak can’t afford to pursue secession, because if Sarawak were to secede from the federation, all the top leaders of Sarawak will likely lose their leadership position, when their position is no longer backed by  Putrajaya.

The only card that Sabah and Sarawak leadership have in forcing Putrajaya to give them the 35 percent, is by playing the two competing Putrajaya parties – PH and PN – against each other.

For as long as the support of Sabah and Sarawak was essential to determine whether it was PH or PN that ruled in Putrajaya, Sabah and Sarawak could use its kingmaking position to force Putrajaya to grant its wishes.

However, the window for Sabah and Sarawak being the kingmaker in the federation has likely closed. In the first two years of his reign, Anwar was entirely dependent on the support of the two East Malaysian states to maintain his rule, but today, this might no longer be the case. After making such moves as getting 6 Bersatu MPs to switch support to him, Anwar will likely be able to maintain his rule even if the ruling parties of Sabah and Sarawak were to withdraw support towards his administration.

Also, if Anwar is forced to contend with the demands of the East Malaysian states to grant them 35 percent of the parliament seats, he could probably even expect the support of Pas and Bersatu to thwart their demand.

Power, by its nature, is divisive.

Because of that, those who seek power tend to be disunited while those who fear losing it tend to be united.

The leadership and people of Sabah and Sarawak might believe that they are a united people who have no quarrels amongst them despite their difference in ethnicity, language and religion, but they only have the luxury of believing that because they have long felt powerless in their relationship with Semenanjung.

Once they start seeking more power, they are not going to feel so powerless, and we shall see whether they are truly as united as they purport themselves to be, once power starts being a factor in their relationship.

The various races in Semenanjung were not always as disunited and quarrelsome as we are today.

During the independence era, the various races in Semenanjung also once believed that we were a united people, regardless of the differences in our race, religion and language, because we all felt powerless in our relationship with the ruling British colonial power.

But once we obtained Independence and tasted power, it didn’t take long for Power to divide us along racial, religious and lingual lines.

In other words, if Sabah and Sarawak starts pursuing the 35 percent agenda, it is going to start feeling like it is gaining more power, while Semenanjung will start feeling like it is losing power.

When that happens, the fractious Semenanjung will likely start to unite while the seemingly united Bornean states might start to divide.

For now, it appears that the Bornean states are only asking for the 35 percent to be given to them as a matter of rights. They are yet to show what they intend to do if their request is denied.

Putrajaya in its turn, has promised that it will give 35 percent of the parliament seats to Sabah and Sarawak, but it has not set a timeline on when it will do it.

Putting two and two together, I reckon that Putrajaya will finally give 35 percent of the parliament seats to Sabah and Sarawak, when it is Semenanjung parties like PH, PN or BN that rules, or at least are the kingmakers, in Sabah and Sarawak.

In other words, if Putrajaya does finally give Sabah and Sarawak the 35 percent of parliament seats, it will likely occur after the 2025 Sabah state elections and 2026 Sarawak state elections,  and that too only if Semenanjung parties like PH, PN or BN are able to penetrate into  Sabah and Sarawak’s political landscape.

 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysia-Today