Clipping the wings of Kedah’s Sanusi

A dramatic arrest at 3am followed by sedition charges would have spelt the end of the career of the average politician.

But Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is not your average politician. The Kedah Mentri Besar has captured the imagination of the common people in a way that no other current political leader has been able to.

He has what Malays refer to as “mulut celupar” - a loose cannon of sorts - but he holds the Kedah folk in the palm of his hand and his appeal among Malays has spilled over into states like Selangor.

As such, social media exploded over the crackdown on Sanusi, with angry and protesting voices almost drowning out those who applauded the move.

“I thought that 3am arrests only happen in nightclubs. Was that necessary?” said a lawyer.

The outcry among Sanusi’s supporters was expected.

But Umno politician Dr Faizal Tajuddin was surprised by the criticism from outside PAS, with lawyers and activists condemning the use of the colonial era sedition law. There were even calls by senior lawyers that the Pakatan Harapan leadership should abolish the Sedition Act.

“We want to see the new politics promised by Pakatan, not the same thing all over again,” said Dr Faizal.

Ironically, Pakatan seems to be taking a page from the Mahathir playbook of yesteryears when it comes to dealing with the enemy - if you cannot beat them, charge them in court.

The six-state election has become much more crucial than most had imagined.

The ruling coalition is determined to hold on to what it has and has thrown everything including the kitchen sink at Sanusi and his state administration.

Some think it is because Pakatan/Umno wants to capture Kedah, but it is actually a strategy to clip Sanusi’s wing and prevent his influence from extending beyond Kedah.

"It is no longer about Muhyiddin, Hadi or Azmin. It is about fighting one man - Sanusi," said a Malay journalist, referring to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Sanusi is built like a prized boxer and he does not hold his punches. Videos of him draw thousands of likes on social media and he has been carried away by the public adulation.

The ceramah crowd will stay on till the very end to hear him speak. It is possible that he feels the need to entertain them and that was probably what happened at the ceramah in Selayang which resulted in him being accused of making seditious remarks against the Sultan of Selangor.

He has only himself to blame or as the Malays say, “kerana mulut badan binasa” (his words have come to hurt him).

“Optics matter in politics. Malays are famous for their kesian culture, where sympathy overtakes logic and facts. It is going to make him bigger than ever,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based banker.

The banker said his WhatsApp group had been talking about how “insulting it is to our intelligence” for J-Kom to claim that a family of four could survive for a month on RM400 of groceries but his group has since been going on non-stop about Sanusi.

“He personifies the man on the street and he is now at the centre of the national spotlight, everyone is talking about him. We don’t take him that seriously in Selangor but they cling on to his every word in Kedah,” said an aide to a former minister.

Two powerful images from the Sanusi dilemma, said the above aide, are set to become iconic in the days to come.

One was the aerial shot of the throng of media that encircled Sanusi after he emerged from the court room and which Sin Chew Daily splashed on its front page.

Sanusi’s lowest point in politics had become his greatest moment of national attention.

The other was of Sanusi, in a white shirt, his right arm raised in the air as he gazed towards the battery of cameras.

Almost instantly, comparisons were drawn to the famous shot of Dauk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s black eye in 1998, his raised arm a powerful gesture of defiance against the injustice done to him.

PKR leaders were annoyed at the parallels drawn and have gone all out to justify the action taken against Sanusi.

It is ironic that what was supposed to be the silver bullet that Pakatan/Umno was looking for in the state polls has instead resulted in a scramble to contain the fallout.

Even the Inspector-General of Police felt compelled to explain the 3am arrest while the Attorney General denied that the charges were driven by politics.

Banners declaring “Daulat Tuanku” have also appeared in Selangor, signalling that Pakatan/Umno is defending the palace.

The discipline among PAS members is quite unrivalled in Malaysia’s politics.

As news of the arrest broke, PAS leaders immediately instructed their members not to make inflammatory remarks on social media about the arrest or to throng the court house. They did not want things to get out of hand.

Will clipping Sanusi’s wings move the needle towards Pakatan/Umno?

The Unity Government’s campaign in Selangor has narrowed down to a specific market, namely, Umno members and Malays who traditionally voted for Umno.

Umno supporters are pro-royalists and they hope that the sedition charges against Sanusi will make them realise who is the true defender of the Malay Rulers.

Anwar has been pushing the narrative that he had stood up against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s attempt to ban Umno.

The Prime Minister was in Kedah and Penang last weekend where he said Umno members should support Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who refused to go along with Dr Mahathir’s plan to dissolve Umno and had to face corruption charges in court.

Anwar needs Umno members to come out in full force to vote for the Unity Government if it is to sail to victory.

The clock is ticking and in three weeks time, we will know whether going after Sanusi was a winning strike or a colossal mistake.

> The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own