KEDAH has no right to stake its claim on Penang as the position of Penang as a sovereign state within Malaysia that is separate from Kedah is clearly enshrined under Clause (2) Article 1 of the Federal Constitution.
To a question by Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng at the Prime Minister Question Time (PMQT) session in Dewan Rakyat this morning, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Federal Constitution provides that the Federal states consist of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Selangor and Terengganu in addition to the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.
“Existing provisions in the Federal Constitution are the result of the agreements between the British Government and the Malay Rulers to form the Federation of Malaya dated Jan 21, 1948 (1948 Agreement) and the Federation of Malaya agreement dated Aug 5, 1957 (1957 Agreement),” Anwar clarified.
“Through the 1948 Agreement, agreement was reached to form Federation of Malaya which will consist of nine states Malay states and two Straits Settlements states, namely Melaka and Penang (including Seberang Perai).”
Through the 1957 Agreement, a further agreement was reached for the establishment of an independent Federation of Malaya commencing Aug 31, 1957 whereby Penang was also included and existed as one of the states in the Federation of Malaya.
“Penang also ceased to be a colony of the British Government who also terminated all sovereign rights of the British Government over Penang and the Constitution of Penang in the Second Schedule of the 1957 Agreement has been designated as the state Constitution for Penang which is a state in the Federation,” Anwar pointed out.
“All-in-all, it can be concluded that the state of Penang is a sovereign state in Malaysia and its position is always guaranteed and provided for in the Federal Constitution which is the main law of the Federation.”
Criminal action against Kedah MB
The Tambun MP also took a jibe at the Opposition, in particular, Kedah Menteri Besar (MB) Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor whom he claimed “for the sake of the upcoming state polls and greed for power was willing to sacrifice the principles of constitution “by creating unnecessary chaos”.
“We’ve been independent for over six decades whereby the ruling parties whether UMNO-BN, PAS-PH or even PAS-PN have never brought this matter up except for one irresponsible leader who has no qualms to go against the constitutional principle and therefore I shall leave it wholly to the Attorney-General (AG) to take appropriate action.”
To-date, only one police report has been lodged against Sanusi (by Jelutong MP RSN Rayer) whereby an investigation paper has been opened by the Bukit Aman Classified Crime Investigation Unit (USJT) under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998.
“Although PDRM (the Royal Malaysia Police) has classified the investigation papers under the above provisions, it is not binding on the Prosecution Division of the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) to limit the elements of the offence under the stated provisions alone,” explained Anwar.
“The Prosecution Division still has the power to examine whether there is an element of fault under the Sedition Act 1948 or any other provisions under the law.” – June 6, 2023
