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Malaysia
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

Asian Angle | In Malaysia’s rice bowl Kedah state, PAS’ Sanusi takes on Anwar’s allies with all guns blazing

  • Kedah, with a history of being a swing state, will be an indicator if PM Anwar Ibrahim has regained the trust of the key rural Malay electorate
  • Anwar is set to test his experiment with Umno, now part of his unity government, and allow the party to lead the cavalry in Kedah

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Malaysian opposition leader Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor raises his fist as he leaves a court where he was charged in Gombak, Malaysia on July 18. His decision to ban gambling and clamp down on alcohol has made him very popular in a state where more than 80 per cent of people are Muslims. Photo: Reuters
Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

The Cowboys is one of a few Westerns where John Wayne’s character is gunned down in his own feature film. In this 1972 coming-of-age story, Wayne’s ageing rancher is ready to embark on a long cattle drive when his crew abruptly quits to join a gold rush.

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He is forced to hire a group of schoolboys, who have their mettle tested when a gang of cattle thieves targets the herd. Wayne reminds one of the boys that taking responsibility is more than just talk: “A big mouth don’t make a big man.”

In Malaysia’s last general election in November, the federal opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition of Malay nationalists and Islamic conservatives swept Malay-majority regions and won 74 seats in parliament, capitalising on the fall of the former grand old party, Umno. PN’s “green wave” now gives it a grip on areas from the east coast to the northern border of Peninsular Malaysia.
Supporters of Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) gather on election nomination day outside an nomination center in Langkawi, Malaysia, on April 28, 2018. Photo: AP
Supporters of Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) gather on election nomination day outside an nomination center in Langkawi, Malaysia, on April 28, 2018. Photo: AP
Emerging from this shift in support is the enigmatic and colourful chief minister of the northwestern Kedah state, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor – a member of the Islamist party PAS and the latest antagonist in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s political chapter.

Like Wayne’s characters, Sanusi is unafraid to draw his gun and challenge his opponents head-on. His decision to ban gambling and clamp down on alcohol has made him very popular in a state where more than 80 per cent of people are Muslims.

Sanusi’s trigger-happy antics, however, have drawn the ire of federal officials. In July, he faced two charges under the Sedition Act 1948 over a political speech allegedly inciting disloyalty to Malaysia’s rulers. During a political rally in Selangor on July 11, Sanusi had claimed that the Kedah sultanate was the only one in the country with an uninterrupted lineage and also questioned whether the king had indeed decreed that a unity government be formed after the general elections in November.
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Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition had pledged in its past two election manifestos to repeal or revoke the sedition law.

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