KUCHING, Nov 10 — The implementation of additional parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak will only be finalised after the 16th General Election (GE16), said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

He said this is because several legal aspects need to be reviewed before the necessary amendments can be done in the Dewan Rakyat.

"It can’t be implemented in time (for GE16). So far, we haven’t set a specific timeline for implementing these additional seats, but we’re allowing time for them (the Attorney General’s Chambers, and the Sabah and Sarawak State Attorney General Chambers) to discuss the legal aspects.

"In the first quarter of next year we’ll receive reports from the three legal advisers to be presented in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council (MTPMA63) meeting,” he said when met by reporters at the ‘’Takaful Goes to the Village Carnival’’ at the Kampung Semariang Batu Multipurpose Hall here today.

He said the Election Commission (EC) has completed its study on the matter in Sarawak only.

The issue of claims for additional parliamentary seats was discussed in the MTPMA63 meeting in September, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The last constituency redelineation exercise involving parliamentary seats was in 2006, and Sabah and Sarawak now hold 25 and 31 seats respectively for a combined 25 per cent of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat. — Bernama