Guan Eng: If Penang can be erased, nothing to stop extremists from stripping Malaysians of fundamental rights and freedoms

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng today warned Malaysians that their fundamental rights and civil liberties are at risk of being removed if PAS were to grow more powerful in the coming state elections.

The Bagan MP has been calling Malaysians, especially Penangites, to reject the Islamist party in the coming elections in six states, after PAS leader and Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor claimed Kedah owned Penang.

“He has doubled down on his claim that Penang belongs to Kedah by demanding that the Federal Constitution be amended to erase Penang from the map.

“If Penang can be so flippantly erased, then there is nothing to stop the fundamental rights and civil liberties of ordinary Malaysians from being eliminated by racial bigots and extremists,” Lim said in a statement.

Sanusi triggered a nationwide debate this week after insisting that Kedah owned Penang, claiming that the latter state government had been making annual ex-gratia or lease payments to Kedah.

Lim, a former Penang chief minister, denied the allegation.

He also told Penangites to teach Perikatan Nasional (PN) — of which PAS is a component — a “painful lesson” in the upcoming state election to defend their state’s sovereignty.

He said that it is important for 1.8 million Penangites to do that as it is betraying Penang’s right to exist in Malaysia.

Various politicians from the government and the federal Opposition PN have weighed in, with most critical of Sanusi’s claim.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin from Bersatu was reported to have distanced PN from Sanusi’s ownership remarks, and called for a stop to such political rhetoric over past claims.