The 17 proposed new state seats in Sarawak are unlikely to be used in the next state election as the Election Commission (EC) expects the electoral boundary review to take longer than February 2027.
EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the review process would not be completed before the current term of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly expires.
“The term of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly expires in February 2027, so based on the process we need to go through, I expect we will not be able to use the new seats in the next state election,” he told reporters after visiting the exhibition venue for the proposed Sarawak Electoral Boundary Review at the Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) today.
The Sarawak Legislative Assembly passed the State Legislative Assembly (Composition of Members) Bill 2025 in July, paving the way for 17 additional seats.
The expansion would increase the total number of seats in the state assembly from 82 to 99.
Meanwhile, Ramlan said the EC had received 18 objections to the proposed electoral boundary review so far.
He said the objections covered several issues, including proposed changes to polling district centres.
“There were also several objections concerning the names of certain state constituencies in Sarikei, Bintulu and Sibu. We will assess and examine these matters in greater detail later,” he said.
The EC will consider the objections as part of the ongoing review process before proceeding with the subsequent stages of the proposed electoral boundary changes.
