GEORGE TOWN: Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammed Sanusi Md Nor's continuous vitriolic attacks against Penang may signal his final days in office, a senior DAP leader said.
Dr P. Ramasamy said by attacking Penang and making absurd and nonsensical claims on Penang, Sanusi had proven beyond doubt that he was an ineffective, incompetent and irresponsible leader.
"(Sanusi) has nothing to offer Kedah.
"His vitriol against Penang may signal his final days in his office. Let us wait and see," he said in his latest Facebook posting.
Sanusi has come under intense fire following his claim that Penang belongs to Kedah.
He said Perak and Perlis were the only states with a border with Kedah.
Bukit Aman has since launched an investigation against Sanusi over his claims, with four reports received
Yesterday, Sanusi found an unlikely ally in former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said it was far fetched to say the former's views on Penang were a crime. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/06/917109/far-fetched-say-sanusi...
Elaborating, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II said it was quite absurd for Sanusi to claim that Penang was part of Kedah.
Ramasamy said historical narratives are nothing more than arguments that seek to understand the past, the present and what the future holds.
He said Malaya became a sovereign nation with the amalgamation of 11 states and two straits settlement territories in 1957.
In 1963, the Federation of Malaysia was formed with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Singapore left the federation in 1965.
He said the question of one state having historical claims over the others had been rendered obsolete.
He further explained that the country's independence in 1957 meant that all the states, despite territorial encroachments against one another in the past, the present state boundaries were accepted as definitive and sacrosanct.
States could not and had no basis to assert claims to territories based on historical considerations, he said.
"Penang, before coming under British colonial control, could have been part of Kedah. And in the same token, the latter was part of Thai territory. All these historical narratives of the past have been rendered obsolete due to the passage of time and with new political developments.
"Similarly, we can also say that Kedah was part of Thailand. Such narratives and counter narratives don't lead anywhere except to create animosities and antagonisms.
"Since the state elections are around the corner, Sanusi, by raising the issue of Kedah's claim over Penang, is basically engaging in a political campaign of the worst kind. It is not that Sanusi is not aware of his preposterous claim over Penang, he is just irritating the popular government in Penang.
"Raising such kind of a politically sensitive issue allows Sanusi to divert attention from the lack of development, safeguarding the natural resources and the lack of development in the state," he added.
According to Ramasamy, Kedah, despite sharing borders with Penang, is considered not a developed state.
He noted that Sanusi knew that without Penang, hundreds of thousands of Kedahans would be deprived of employment.
Hundreds and thousands of Kedahans commute daily to work in Penang's sprawling industrial and manufacturing sectors.
"In other words, despite the cheap political stunt, Sanusi cannot accept the fact that Penang is a developed state, with nearly full employment.
"And what is more, is regarded as the Pearl of the East," he noted.
Sanusi, Ramasamy said, started quarrelling with Penang over the sharing of water resources as 80 per cent of the water for consumption in Penang came from Sungai Muda.
He said Sanusi had been unsuccessfully claiming unreasonable compensation from Penang for the intake of raw water from Sungai Muda, with its sources in the hills of Ulu Muda.
He asserted that if history was the basis of claims of countries and states within, then there was no stopping India from claiming Pakistan, Bangladesh and other independent countries that once constituted the Indian sub-continent long before the colonial days.
He pointed out that the same thing could be said about other nations making historical claims on lost territories that became independent over the years.
"I am not sure whether what was uttered by Sanusi is seditious or not. The Attorney General has been tasked to investigate, and if possible, take the appropriate action against Sanusi.
"Sanusi, as the top state leader in Kedah, has so many things on his plate.
"Apart from raising sensitive or even nonsensical issues that have no bearing on the social and economic welfare, he has no developmental vision for the people in his state.
"There is fear in him that when Kedahans start comparing Kedah with Penang, and why the latter is far behind the former, there may be trouble not just for Sanusi but the Pas government in the state.
"Antagonisms, religious or otherwise cannot shut the eyes and ears of the people in Kedah. If Pas has such a super administration in Kelantan and Terengganu, why are hundreds and thousands of youngsters seeking greener pastures in urban areas in other states including Singapore?" he asked. - NST
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