Prime Minister Najib Razak said "Malaysia Day" will be a national holiday starting next year on Sept. 16 _ the day in 1963 when eastern Sarawak and Sabah states gained independence from Britain and became part of a federation with 11 other states on peninsular Malaysia.

Najib's move illustrates increasing efforts by his National Front ruling coalition to bolster its support, which has faded in recent years because of public accusations against the government of racial discrimination and corruption.

The new holiday will remind Malaysians of a crucial chapter in history and "strengthen unity, racial understanding and the people's achievement," Najib said in a speech at Parliament.

Malaysia celebrates National Day with festive parades on Aug. 31, the date peninsular Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. But the people in Sabah and Sarawak have long voiced dissatisfaction that Sept. 16 passes with little fanfare.

Government authorities had previously said the country would have too many national holidays if Sept. 16 became one.

Most Malaysians in Borneo belong to tribal ethnic communities that are among the country's most impoverished people. Some have complained that the federal government, dominated by ethnic Malay Muslims, ignores their problems, such as poor infrastructure and illegal immigration from neighboring Indonesia and the Philippines.

Sabah and Sarawak have traditionally been political strongholds for the National Front, but the opposition has sought to make inroads over the past year. Winning the Borneo states enabled the coalition to retain power in March 2008 elections, when the opposition wrested control of slightly more than one-third of the seats in Parliament and five states on peninsular Malaysia.