No Rush To Table 13 New State Seats – MP

PUTATAN: Putatan member of parliament Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh said there was no rush to have the 13 new state constituencies tabled in parliament.

He strongly feels that there is a need to increase the number of parliamentary seats in Sabah instead of state seats.

This is because when Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya joined up to form Malaysia, and based on the understanding of the formation, each was supposed to have 30 per cent of the parliamentary seats, he said.

The Upko treasurer who was met at his annual Chinese New Year walkabout in Putatan yesterday, said this when asked about the possibility of a snap election for Sabah.

“If I were the one with the authority to say when is the election, I will say better to have it tomorrow because now (there are) more parties are coming in and this is how we practise democracy. The more the merrier,” he said.

When asked if there would be a snap election before the new seats were tabled in parliament, Mojigoh’s reply was: “Why should we table it now? Give me a good reason to do that. It can be postponed to the next general election. Maintain at 60 seats first.

“Wouldn’t an increase in seats mean better representation for the rakyat?” he was asked to which he replied: “There is no point. Why I say so is because it should be the parliamentary constituencies in Sabah that should be increased. We should be asking for more parliamentary seats because when we formed Malaysia, we should have at least 30 per cent out of the number of parliamentary seats in the whole country.”

He added: “Thirty per cent each for Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, then it will be fair. Increase the number of parliamentary seats, not state. State assemblymen are not involved in decision making for the country. There are only 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah out of the 222 seats throughout the country. This is only about 10 per cent, not 30 per cent.

“Increase it based on the understanding when we formed Malaysia,” he reiterated and pointed out that when Singapore withdrew from Malaysia, Singapore’s seats were taken by Malaya.

“It should have been distributed proportionately among the three remaining partners, Sabah is one of the partners but now we are just one of the 13 states, how can that be?” he asked.

On the number of opposition political parties in Sabah, Mojigoh said the more the merrier.

“Opposition parties have different ideologies, ideas and policies but if they come together there is no more democracy as they have different ideas,” he said adding: “In Barisan Nasional we are different because we are one.

“Let them (opposition) stand with the people who want to vote for their struggles because some parties have different issues that they want to champion and see what the people’s response will be,” he said.

He urged the people to continue to support BN as it is the one who is championing the people’s rights.

“Don’t let our hard work go to waste,” he said.

Mojigoh however remained tight lipped when asked if there would be any additional seats for Upko in the coming election.

“Even if I knew I would not tell you. I think Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has earmarked the areas to be shared among the component parties. If you want to ask, ask the Chief Minister; we have no right to disclose anything because we are not privy to that information.

“But if Upko is still considered relevant, then give more seats to Upko. PBS, they are multi-racial so they can also stand in a multi-racial area like in constituencies where Umno stands. In fact, we have already voiced out that one party cannot monopolize the seats. Whether they are winnable or not, everybody’s thinking is that all candidates are winnable.

“This is a Barisan Nasional (BN) concept, they should practise power sharing system. (But) one party cannot contest in more than 50 per cent of the seats available. That should be the best way. Every component should be given a seat, even MIC, if it asks for a seat, give it to them. What is wrong with that? But the candidate must be winnable,” he said.

Mojigoh pointed out that for Upko, which represents many from the rural areas, will have it tough.

He also was of the opinion that any disagreement between the component parties in areas which are considered ‘grey’ will be dangerous.

“The ‘enemy from within’ can result in us losing the seat. People are frustrated because they were not nominated,” he warned.

Meanwhile on issues in Putatan, Mojigoh said the people had been complaining about the infrastructure in Putatan for a long time.

Now hawkers are no longer allowed to do business at their customary place opposite the shopping mall. But that is the decision of the council, that they try to make Putatan as beautiful as possible without all the structures that are not pleasing to the eyes, he said.

“The council has moved them to an alternate site but for the hawkers and traders, it is too far from their customers, so I hope the council can do something to assist them, the community who are trying to do business to earn a living, especially the locals,” he said.

“There are some issues which have been overlooked, like potholes on the roads. I hope officers from the Municipal Council and District Council will ‘turun padang’ and resolve these problems.

“We also have the problem of overflowing septic tanks which have not been serviced. So I hope the Putatan District Council, which is collecting taxes from the residents, will do its job because the people are expecting services,” he said.-BP