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KOTA KINABALU: The 40 per cent federal revenue entitlement for Sabah and an increase in parliamentary seats to achieve a one-third ratio must be implemented before the 16th General Election (GE16).

Making the call, Upko Youth chief Felix Joseph Saang (pic) said both demands were crucial and aligned with the spirit and provisions of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which recognises Sabah and Sarawak as founding partners of the Federation of Malaysia rather than ordinary states.

He said Sabah’s vast geography and size, compared with most states in the peninsula, justified fairer financial allocations and parliamentary representation, citing Beluran, which is more than three times the size of Melaka yet has only one parliamentary seat compared to Melaka’s six.

Felix said the imbalance affected service delivery and slowed comprehensive development, noting that several districts in Sabah continued to face poverty and shortages of basic infrastructure.

He said implementing the 40 per cent revenue claim was the most realistic and effective step if the Federal Government was serious about addressing poverty and achieving zero poverty targets, while adding that increasing Sabah’s parliamentary seats was essential to ensure the state’s voice was more fairly represented at the federal level before GE16.