KEDAH Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has doubled down on his claim that Penang belongs to Kedah by demanding that the Federal Constitution be amended to erase Penang from the map. If Penang can be so flippantly erased, then there is nothing to stop the fundamental rights and civil liberties of ordinary Malaysians from being eliminated by racial bigots and extremists.
Under Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution, Penang is part of the basic structure of 14 states that makes up the states of the Federation of Malaysia. Article 1(3) accords recognition to Penang with a territory of its own. Article 2 states that boundaries of any state are determined by Parliament subject to the consent of the states affected and the Conference of Rulers.
PH Penang Permatang Pasir ADUN, Faiz Fadzil, had emphasized that pursuant to Article 2, the boundaries of Penang and Kedah were demarcated and codified into law under the Akta Kedah dan Pulau Pinang(Pengubahan Sempadan) 1985. In other words, the boundaries of Penang and Kedah had been demarcated, set by law and agreed by both states as well as the Conference of Rulers in accordance with Article 2 of the Federal Constitution.
This is the reason why Muhammad Sanusi is suggesting that the Federal Constitution be amended to erase Penang from the map because he knows there is no legal basis whatsoever to his claim to return Penang back to Kedah. Muhammad Sanusi is making a devious political stratagem to gain political mileage for PN to win Kedah in the coming state elections. 1.8 million Penangites should defend their state’s sovereignty by giving PN a painful lesson for betraying Penang’s right to exist in Malaysia.
Muhammad Sanusi has also been dishonest by claiming that Kedah still has a valid claim to Penang because Penang has been making annual ex-gratia or lease payments to Kedah. This is untrue. Penang has never paid a single cent of ex-gratia or lease payments to Kedah.