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State your stand on Kedah lease claim, Sim tells Penang reps
The Penang DAP chairman says elected representatives must make their stand on the matter clear
Penang DAP chairman Steven Sim said menteri besar Sanusi Nor should focus on Kedah’s development and the welfare of its people rather than ‘playing politics all the time’.
GEORGE TOWN: PAS and Perikatan Nasional elected representatives in Penang have been urged to make their stand clear on whether they back Kedah’s claim on the state.
Penang DAP chairman Steven Sim said voters deserved to know if their elected representatives would be faithful to the state or betray it by agreeing with Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor’s repeated push for a multi-million ringgit “lease payment” for Penang island and Seberang Perai.
Sim said the Federal Constitution clearly states that Penang and Kedah are two separate entities, adding that DAP would defend both the constitution and Penang’s status as a sovereign state.
He also urged Sanusi to focus on Kedah’s development and the welfare of its people rather than “playing politics all the time”.
Sim was responding to a call by Penang PAS for all parties to refrain from commenting on Kedah’s claim over Penang while the matter is being brought to court.
State PAS information chief Fawwaz Jan said the case should be allowed to proceed through the proper legal channels without political interference or speculation that could “cloud the issue”.
The dispute stems from Kedah asserting its rights over Penang, citing a colonial-era agreement. Legal experts have repeatedly stated that Penang remains a sovereign state under the Federal Constitution.
Fawwaz said the court system is the best way to ensure justice is served based on sound law and historical facts, rather than narratives “distorted by colonial powers”.
Sanusi told the Kedah assembly on Oct 10 that the state government was finalising the appointment of a legal team to take court action over the state’s relationship with Penang.
He said a research team of history and legal experts had completed its study on the matter and presented its final report to the state executive council in April.
Further developments would follow “within the next month or two”, the menteri besar added.
In 2021, Kedah demanded RM100 million a year from the federal government as a “lease payment” for Penang island and Seberang Perai.
Sanusi said the federal government had been paying RM10,000 annually on Penang’s behalf for decades, before raising the sum to RM10 million in 2018 after the matter was raised at the Conference of Rulers.
He also argued that both territories were leased by the Kedah sultanate to the British in 1791 for 10,000 Spanish dollars.
However, the Penang government maintains that the sultanate effectively ceded the territories after Merdeka.
Some historians have also pointed out that no formal lease document exists, suggesting the “lease” narrative may have stemmed from a historical misunderstanding.
Penang DAP chairman Steven Sim said voters deserved to know if their elected representatives would be faithful to the state or betray it by agreeing with Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor’s repeated push for a multi-million ringgit “lease payment” for Penang island and Seberang Perai.
Sim said the Federal Constitution clearly states that Penang and Kedah are two separate entities, adding that DAP would defend both the constitution and Penang’s status as a sovereign state.
He also urged Sanusi to focus on Kedah’s development and the welfare of its people rather than “playing politics all the time”.
Sim was responding to a call by Penang PAS for all parties to refrain from commenting on Kedah’s claim over Penang while the matter is being brought to court.
State PAS information chief Fawwaz Jan said the case should be allowed to proceed through the proper legal channels without political interference or speculation that could “cloud the issue”.
The dispute stems from Kedah asserting its rights over Penang, citing a colonial-era agreement. Legal experts have repeatedly stated that Penang remains a sovereign state under the Federal Constitution.
Fawwaz said the court system is the best way to ensure justice is served based on sound law and historical facts, rather than narratives “distorted by colonial powers”.
Sanusi told the Kedah assembly on Oct 10 that the state government was finalising the appointment of a legal team to take court action over the state’s relationship with Penang.
He said a research team of history and legal experts had completed its study on the matter and presented its final report to the state executive council in April.
Further developments would follow “within the next month or two”, the menteri besar added.
In 2021, Kedah demanded RM100 million a year from the federal government as a “lease payment” for Penang island and Seberang Perai.
Sanusi said the federal government had been paying RM10,000 annually on Penang’s behalf for decades, before raising the sum to RM10 million in 2018 after the matter was raised at the Conference of Rulers.
He also argued that both territories were leased by the Kedah sultanate to the British in 1791 for 10,000 Spanish dollars.
However, the Penang government maintains that the sultanate effectively ceded the territories after Merdeka.
Some historians have also pointed out that no formal lease document exists, suggesting the “lease” narrative may have stemmed from a historical misunderstanding.
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