Kedah MB on shaky ground

THE Kedah Mentri Besar flew in a helicopter over Gunung Inas after the devastating floods that swept away villages and left three people dead.

It gave Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor a bird’s eye view of how the once beautiful green hills had been ravaged to make way for a Musang King durian plantation and gullies where water, mud and logs raged downhill like an angry dragon.

Villagers blamed the durian plantation for the floods, environmentalists blamed the hill-clearing, while politicians are still blaming each other.

Kedah has had five MBs since the highland was first cleared in the name of the Ladang Rakyat project.

In that sense, the blame falls on every political party that has been in charge of the state since then although locals speak in whispered tones about the shadowy people who benefitted from the harvesting of the timber.

Everyone of the five MBs since 2008 have mud on their hands - one for allowing the logging, another for approving the durian plantation and the others for doing nothing much about it.

The Baling debacle was the second such disaster to hit Kedah and it shows that the state has no clear environmental policies.

Last year, the flood waters and mud that poured down from Gunung Jerai left a trail of destruction and deaths in Yan which villagers described as “banjir tsunami” for the fury with which it came down on them.

Floods and droughts are common in Kedah but locals complain the floods have become more deadly over the last few years.

The buck has to stop somewhere and the pressure has been immense on Sanusi. It is the worst crisis he has faced since landing in the hot seat in 2020 and there is a general election looming on the horizon.

Moreover, Baling has many PAS supporters. The party won all the three state seats of Bayu, Kupang and Kuala Ketil but voters gave the parliament seat to Umno’s Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim with a much reduced majority.

Lots of bad things have been said and written about Abdul Azeez, but he is exactly the type of YB people need in a catastrophe.

Abdul Azeez has taken charge, moving with amazing speed to mobilise government agencies to help clear the debris, house and feed those affected and even getting the army to put up a truss bridge within days to replace the one swept away.

The usually voluble Sanusi who is known for his jokes and playful nature, has been unusually serious as he grapples with the recovery process.

“He is a hands-on MB, easy to work with too. He can take it if you do not agree with him. But what happened has affected him personally. He has been quite a different person after the floods,” said Kedah exco member and Sungai Tiang assemblyman Datuk Suraya Yaacob.

There are even rumours that the MB has told his close aides to start clearing some of his things in the office.

He was an accidental MB after the designated candidate Datuk Ahmad Yahaya lost in the general election.

Sanusi was the political secretary to the late MB Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak, but he lacked the skills to lead a hybrid government where the partners have no loyalty to each other.

Moreover, there are potential candidates in the wings.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, who is a major political player, has been making his presence felt in Kedah where he has family roots in Sik.

Takiyuddin, who is Energy and Natural Resources Minister, has even held several of his ministry events in Kedah.

His frequent appearances led to speculation that he may be contesting a parliament and state seat in Kedah.

If PAS secures enough seats to form the government, Takiyuddin may wish to cap off his political career as MB of Kedah.

There is also speculation that Takiyuddin’s sidekick, Senator Khairil Nizam Khirudin, who is the PAS information chief, might be contesting in Kedah.

While intellectuals are critical of Sanusi’s shortcomings, he is extremely well-liked by ordinary people.

He is unpolished, he shoots from the hips and looks like a farmer but all this makes him very relatable to the average kampung person.

He has shed tears when recalling how he grew up in a hardcore poor family in Sik.

He fits in well with the Kedah culture where leaders are expected to be like one of them.

Even Tourism Langkawi president Ahmad Pishol Isahak, who has seen politicians come and go, said Sanusi is “trying his best and should be given a chance”.

The Kedah folk, especially the football-crazy young people, rallied behind him when he spoke out about the role of a certain prince in the field of football and came under attack from the blue-blood.

Kedah Chinese Assembly Hall president Datuk Cheng Lai Hock, who has discussed issues of flooding with the MB, said Sanusi means no harm when speaking out.

“His personality is like that. He does not pretend to be what he is not. But this is politics where everything can become an issue,” said Cheng.

Kedah MBs have fallen for all kinds of reasons. One had to go after throwing a Mexican-themed birthday party.

Another was pressured to resign because Kedah found his ideas too eccentric and futuristic for their liking. Yet another was forced out after suffering a stroke.

More recently, an MB became unpopular for spending too much time in Kuala Lumpur.

PAS still enjoys support in Kedah. It is not strong enough to form a government on its own but whoever wants to form the next state government will need PAS to come along.

The question is whether Sanusi will still be the MB by then or if he will be the first MB swept out by floods.