ALOR SETAR – Malaysia’s ruling coalition has painted a large bull’s eye on the back of Kedah’s caretaker chief minister Sanusi Md Nor, as it ramps up efforts to win back the northern state in the Aug 12 state polls.
Sanusi, from the federal opposition alliance Perikatan Nasional (PN), was last week charged in court with sedition for insulting the Selangor ruler, and is due for questioning over alleged corruption involving mining activities in the state.
He alleged that his popular TikTok account, with some 540,000 followers, was mysteriously blocked for three days in mid-July and then unblocked again, with the Home Minister and Minister of Communications and Digital saying they had no hand in it.
These developments come just ahead of the Aug 12 polls involving six states. Sanusi, 48, is the election director for PN, which is led by two major Malay-Muslim parties.
Despite these distractions, PN and Sanusi are set to put up a tough fight to defend Kedah.
Sanusi became the state’s Menteri Besar (chief minister) after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state government was toppled in 2020 following a major shift of alliances among state politicians.
To boost its support among Malay voters in Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition led by PH badly needs to wrest Kedah back.
But PH and its key ally Barisan Nasional (BN) may face an uphill battle. Many Kedahans whom The Straits Times spoke to sang praises of the blunt-speaking Sanusi.
At political rallies, his shoot-from-the-hip style and thick Kedah accent resonate with heartlanders in the state, which is known as Malaysia’s “rice bowl state” as it has the highest rice output in the country.
Stock trader Abdul Rahim, 35, who works part-time as a private-hire driver, said Sanusi is “the best Menteri Besar”.
“He builds new roads and he goes down to the ground when there are floods. He may be brash, but we don’t mind it,” he told ST.
Of the six states headed for the polls in August, PN controls the state governments of Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan. Mr Anwar’s PH-BN alliance controls the other three state assemblies – Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
An influential figure, Sanusi has accused Mr Anwar’s federal administration of launching investigations against him to curtail his speeches.
“In Malaysia, it looks like we cannot say anything. We have a government that is afraid and using the police to stop our speech,” he told reporters after his court appearance on Tuesday.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zdHJhaXRzdGltZXMuY29tL2FzaWEvc2UtYXNpYS9tYWxheXNpYS1zLXJ1bGluZy1jb2FsaXRpb24tZ29lcy1vbi1vZmZlbnNpdmUtYWdhaW5zdC1rZWRhaC1sZWFkZXItaW4tYmF0dGxlLXRvLXdpbi1zdGF0ZdIBAA?oc=5
2023-07-23 21:00:00Z
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