DAP Legal Bureau chairman Ramkarpal Singh Deo says Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammed Sanusi Md Nor is going down the unconstitutional path if he continues to question the sovereignty of Penang.
Ramkarpal, who is the Bukit Gelugor MP and a former deputy minister, said that Sanusi is not just sparking a legal wrangle, but has the potential of creating animosity among neighbours.
Both Penang and Kedah residents enjoy close ties and strong goodwill over the decades, especially since they are sovereign states under the Federated Malay States, said Ramkarpal.
He told a press conference that Sanusi should stop making more provocative statements, aimed at Penang.
His demands that Penang pay a higher honorarium from the present RM10 million to RM100 million per annum while also disputing the status of Penang as a federated state under the Federal Constitutional, is not only controversial, it has become unconstitutional, said Ramkarpal.
Sanusi in a fiery speech in the Kedah legislative assembly sitting recently, said that he has evidence to back his claims that Penang should rightfully belong to Kedah, and this time, he would not back down from his claims.
Previously, Sanusi claimed that his legal researchers have scanned through 20,000 legal documents including from the British, Thailand and Netherlands as well as from Indonesia to study the historical status between Kedah and Penang.
His purpose is to use these documents to establish facts regarding the historical status of Penang as a "leased state" to the British, to build a case for renegotiating the lease payment
The research team, comprising legal and historical experts, was expected to conclude and present their findings and recommendations to the state executive council by December 2024, with a legal team to be appointed subsequently to initiate court action, which some quarters say may go straight to the Federal Court. - November 15, 2025.
