MAY 31 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to understand and follow the Federal Constitution before making claims on ownership of Penang.
After reading the Federal Constitution, I try to make constitutional and legal sense of Sanusi’s claim.
Sanusi claims that Kedah owns Penang, BUT – it is a big and bold BUT – Penang:
(1) is a State which makes up the States of the Federation of Malaysia as declared by Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution;
(2) has a territory of its own which is accorded recognition by Article 1(3) of the Federal Constitution;
(3) not only has a State Constitution but one that has a provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong the position of Head of the religion of Islam in the State;
(4) has federal guarantee of its State Constitution under Article 71 of the Federal Constitution;
(5) has a State Legislative Assembly whose constitution and privileges are accorded federal protection under Article 72 and Eighth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
The Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land [Article 4(1)].
When the concept of “State” as it is known today was formulated, it referred to the ruler. [See Heinz Lubasz, The Development of the Modern State (1964)] Up to the end of the seventeenth century, the state still referred to the king. By the eighteenth century, the state referred to a government — a ruling entity, which is an abstract concept. The state no longer referred to a person — the king or ruler.
The modern state has a number of characteristics, among others:
(1) it has a territory recognised by international law;
(2) it is sovereign and is not subject to the rules imposed by other states;
(3) it is governed by a system of law;
(4) the distinction between the state and society is made.
So, does Kedah own Penang?
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
