The Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP), which was upgraded to ‘city council’ on Jan 1 this year, will have a woman as its first mayor.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today announced Patahiyah Ismail as the new mayor, and added that her appointment would be backdated to Jan 1.

"Penang leads as the city will have its first woman mayor," Lim said at a press conference today.

Patahiyah ( left ) assumes her new role immediately after serving as Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) president since 2010.

She also made history as the first woman MPPP president for Penang and is due for retirement at the end of this year.

Lim said Patahiyah's term as Penang Island City Council (Majlis Bandaran Pulau Pinang or MBPP) mayor will end on Dec 31.

Asked if Penang would make history by hold elections for the post of mayor, Lim said "we would have to go back to court again".

Lim said this in reference to the Federal Court decision barring Penang from conducting its own local council elections.

The state government filed a judicial review to hold elections for its two municipal councils (Penang Island and Seberang Perai) - which was part of the DAP's election promise to do so.

Several events to mark City Day

Meanwhile, Lim also announced several events - would be held from March 31 to April 26 - to mark the island's City Day.

There will also be a ceremony on March 31, at which the Yang di-Pertuan Negeri of Penang, Abdul Rahman Abbas will hand over the letter declaring Penang Island a city and Patahiyah's appointment letter as mayor.

"This will be a very historic moment for all of us, for Penang," Lim said.

Although MPPP's city status had been deliberated by the BN state government prior to March 2008, it never materialised.

The Agong however approved the application by Pakatan to upgrade the MPPP to City Council after the 2008 polls, when Pakatan took over Penang that year.

The federal cabinet, under Prime Minister Najib Razak, approved the upgrading of MPPP to City Council on Nov 7 last year, and the decision was notified in a letter to the Penang government dated Dec 10.

The decision included the approval for the City Council to increase its staff by 388, adding the council's total workforce to 3,964.

The approval also meant that the boundary of administration of the new council, which will include reclaimed areas, will be revised to an additional space of 8.773sq-km, or a total of 305.773sq-km for the entire coverage of the council.

In 2010, Lim applied for the  MPPP to be upgraded to a city council, saying that it was timely as George Town was awarded the Unesco World Heritage City status in 2008.

Although George Town was the first in the country to be declared a city, with Queen Elizabeth II conferring it the status in 1957, it lost the city status in the 1970s.

This happened in the 1970s, when the George Town City Council was merged with the Penang Island Rural District Council to become MPPP.