Is Kedah Umno Doing Pas Favour By Slamming Teresa Kok For Insulting Kedah Ruler By Federalising Langkawi

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SEPUTEH MP Teresa Kok’s constructive jibe that Langkawi Island be made an international zone or “Federal Territory” under the Federal government has received backlash from rightist Kedah UMNO “for being disrespectful to the conquered territories under the Kedah ruler’s patronage”.
That such condemnation bizarrely enough came from an ally of the Madani government has raised questions if Kedah UMNO is desperately riding on a non-issue to win the hearts of Malay electorate which has sternly rejected the party as evident from Perikatan Nacional’s (PN) having clinched 14 of the state’s 15 parliamentary seats in the 2022 national polls.
Yesterday (Nov 14), Kedah UMNO liaison committee chairman Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid has further described the DAP lawmaker’s proposal as insensitive and offensive to Kedahans.
In the former Kedah menteri besar’s contention, Kok should have been aware that not every matter can be laid bare “on any platform, even in the Dewan Rakyat where she enjoys immunity”.



Subtly playing race card
By demanding a public apology from the former DAP vice-chairman for hurting the feelings of the Kedah royalty and fellow Kedahans is itself a showcase of an attempt to derive political mileage by playing the ABATA a.k.a. agama (religion), bangsa (race) and tanah air (nation) card.
“Such matters can’t be arbitrarily discussed openly because they involve the dignity of the Kedah Sultan who oversees the island’s conquered colonies,” argued Mahdzir who lost in his defence of the Padang Terap parliamentary constituency to PAS in the 15th General Election (GE15).
“The matter relating to the Kedah ruler’s conquered colonies is not like picking up fallen coconuts by the roadside but a matter of sovereignty that cannot be compromised.”
Recall that Kok had rued that Langkawi has been facing a significant decline in the number of tourist arrival ever since the COVID-19 pandemic with many Malaysians preferring to flock into Thailand which has lured 3.53 million Malaysians from January to October 2025 alone.

“The PAS-ruled Kedah state government says it wants to take over Penang but if it has even failed to develop tourism in the beautiful Langkawi Island, how is the Kedah PAS government able to take over Penang?” she wondered during Thursday’s (Nov 13) Dewan Rakyat debate on the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.
“It’s time for the Federal government to take over Langkawi and develop the island’s tourism potential.”
Whether the 65-year-old Mahdzir has taken a chapter from his party’s fiery youth wing chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh who thrives as a staunch race, religion and royalty defender is as good as anybody’s guess.
However, little did he know that amid calls for “mass police report to be lodged against Kok” or “sue DAP”, he is shooting himself on the foot for his rebuttal of Kok’s statement has in fact provoked more hatred towards UMNO “which has to cling on to DAP for its survival”.
The hard truth is that diehard PAS supporters will never ever have anything to do with UMNO as evident from this social media post by pro-opposition blogger/political activist Ratu Naga. 


- focus malaysia

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