In 1974, the George Town City Council was merged with the Penang Island Rural District Council to form the Penang Island Municipal Council, while the five local authorities within Seberang Perai, including the Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam town councils, were merged into the Seberang Perai Municipal Council. By then, local elections, suspended since 1965, became a thing of the past, with the municipal councillors being appointed by the Penang state government ever since. The merger of the local governments on Penang Island also led to a decades-long dispute over George Town's city status.