Fierce attempt to stop ‘Sanusi wave’

HIS name is on everyone’s lips in Kedah and he can do no wrong in the eyes of his supporters.

Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is swamped by admirers wherever he goes, with many of them doing the iconic raised arm gesture that he has come to own since being charged with sedition.

But one thing the caretaker Mentri Besar could not do was to stop a contest between PAS and Bersatu in Langkawi.

Langkawi is a free-for-all since the exit of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Perikatan Nasional partners PAS and Bersatu are taking on each other in Ayer Hangat and Kuah. The PAS deputy chief as well as its deputy Youth chief for Langkawi are standing as independents after the seats were allocated to Bersatu.

Such defiance would normally mean being sacked but PAS has not acted against them which has led to speculation that the two independents have the blessing of the top leadership.

This is a golden opportunity for PKR which is contesting in Kuah and Umno in Ayer Hangat. If they win, Pakatan/Umno can crow to the whole kampung that they have Malay support because Kuah and Ayer Hangat have 94% and 83% Malays respectively.

But the strange thing is that the two PAS independents apparently have a fighting chance of winning.

An Umno leader from Langkawi said when he stopped to chat with an impressive convoy of young motorbikers wearing red Pakatan Harapan shirts, they told him without reservation that they were planning to vote for PAS.

“This is how the world around me has changed,” said the Umno leader.

Pakatan/Umno had started out quite hopeful about Kedah which saw a hung assembly in the 2018 general election. The state assembly could not appoint a speaker for more than a month because of the impasse.

But the coalition has been blindsided by Sanusi’s popularity which snowballed into the “Sanusi wave” after his sedition charges.

Moreover, Kedah is as Malay as it gets. There are only three seats where Malays make up less than 50% of the voters - Kota Darul Aman (30% Malays), Bakar Arang (47%) and Sidam (49%).

Moreover, 20 of the 36 state seats in Kedah comprise more than 80% Malays.

State Umno chief Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid declared a couple of days ago that the wind is no longer blowing and the wave that swept in last year has died down.

The wind and wave may not have grown wilder but neither has it receded and Mahdzir, seen as Pakatan/Umno’s poster boy, is fighting a tough battle in Pedu which is 85% Malay.

Pakatan/Umno has since adjusted its prediction of winning from 14 to eight seats. But that is only possible if Umno is able to bring out its white voters.

Pakatan’s panglima perang or war general in Kedah is Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail who has gone after Sanusi day and night.

The Kedah-born PKR leader knows the ground well and has given Sanusi a hard time, asking tough questions and poking at corruption allegations in the Mentri Besar Incorporated over the rare earth issue.

The aim is to puncture the seemingly invincible image of Sanusi. They know he is unstoppable in Kedah but they want to stop his influence from spreading beyond Kedah.

Saifuddin holds immense clout as a minister but he is seen as a spent force in Kedah where he has lost more elections than won.

“The continuous attacks against him make him more popular. Malays become more sympathetic to him,” said an Alor Setar-based journalist.

Moreover, TikTok is doing most of the work for Sanusi. Videos of him garner hundreds of thousands of views and likes. Even non-Malays say they are starting to like him although they would not dream of voting for PAS.

Penangites thought he was crazy when he made claims about taking back territory in Penang. Yet, young Malays in Penang are extremely drawn to him.

A group of young Malay boys who were putting up Barisan Nasional flags and posters in Seberang Prai openly told people they are planning to vote for Perikatan.

There is also a great deal of psywar going on with talk that Sanusi may not be returned as mentri besar and that the post may go to Datuk Dr Mohd Hayati Otnman who is defending the Tokai seat.

Perikatan’s prospect of forming the Kedah government is resting on his shoulders.

Pakatan/Umno think that if they damage Sanusi, they will also reduce Perikatan’s chances of sweeping more seats in Kedah.

Saifuddin is doing a good job as the war general but he is up against Sanusi who is like a comet and it is quite impossible to bring down a comet as it blazes its way across the sky.

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