BOMBSHELL – 15 UMNO MPS HATCHING A REVOLT IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 6 STATE ELECTIONS? – CAMP NAJIB, UNABLE TO GET ROYAL PARDON, TO JOIN ISM,AIL SABRI-HISHAM FACTIONS TO THREATEN ZAHID & ANWAR? – WILL ANWAR & PAKATAN BE SO STUPID AS TO CAVE IN? WHERE CAN THESE UMNO 15 GO?
Kedah’s poster boys to go for it
HE is arguably the most popular mentri besar that Kedah has had in a long while and his party recently declared him as the “poster boy” in the state election expected to take place by July.
Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is riding a popularity wave that Perikatan Nasional hopes will translate into another green wave in Kedah.
Few knew who he was when he took the hot seat but within a couple of years, the mentri besar of a nearby state was asking his staff for ideas on how he could make news like his Kedah counterpart.
Muhammad Sanusi is the reigning sensation and that has made him the target of attacks from his opponents in Pakatan Harapan and Umno – but the strikes only seem to rally more people around him.
He is the classic example that one does not need to be exceptionally clever or brainy to succeed as a leader. The ability to connect with ordinary people and to speak from the heart seems more important in this Malay heartland state.
The urban elite and intelligentsia mock his provincial ways and kampung-style oratory but it sits beautifully with folk there.
Ordinary Kedahans feel a sense of pride that someone from a humble background has made it this far.
Muhammad Sanusi comes from what political scientists call the proletariat.
In an interview shortly after becoming Mentri Besar, he was overcome with emotion when relating how his father tapped rubber, gathered petai and rotan, fished in rivers and worked odd jobs in the village and as far away as Singapore to provide for the family.
They were the hardcore poor prevalent among the Kedah peasantry that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim used to champion as a student activist once upon a time.
The fact that Muhammad Sanusi defied the odds, made it to university and broke out of the poverty cycle within one generation is to be admired.
Perikatan’s fate in Kedah rests on the shoulders of this man.
Can he hold off the titanic attacks coming his way? Can this state known as “Jelapang Padi” or the “rice bowl state” withstand the might and ambitions of PMX and Putrajaya?
Pakatan and Umno will be unable to make much headway in Kelantan and Terengganu where Malays make up 95% of the population and where the PAS culture has taken root.
However, Kedah is 80% Malay and there are mixed seats where the unity government coalition has a fighting chance.
Moreover, the 2018 General Election resulted in a hung assembly in Kedah.
Of the 36 state seats, 15 to went PAS, three to Umno and 18 to Pakatan, then spearheaded by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
On paper, it looks like anything can happen except that Malays, in general, have fallen out of love with Umno and they are not into Pakatan.
Moreover, the unity government is heavily reliant on non-Malay support in this Malay-majority state.
“The aim is to put up a good fight, make things difficult for Perikatan,” said Kedah Umno information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin.
Shaiful, who is also Merbok Umno division chief, said cooperation between Pakatan and Umno could easily deliver eight seats.
He said seat negotiations were 70% done and the agreement is for incumbents to contest the state seats they won in 2018.
However, Umno only won three seats and Shaiful is asking for at least one state seat in every parliamentary area for Umno.
Kedah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid is set to be the poster boy after Pakatan state chairman Datuk Seri Mahfuz Omar said he is not gunning for the top job.
It is no fun being an opposition state and despite his popularity, Sanusi will be going into battle as the underdog against the incumbency powers of Putrajaya.
He has been under immense pressure.
Shaiful has also been quite fierce and switching up the attacks, especially on the state’s problematic water supply.
Parts of Kedah currently have dry taps because of insufficient treatment plants and low water pressure. Many households have to rely on mobile tankers for their water.
But that may not necessarily puncture support for Muhammad Sanusi because Selangor and Kelantan have the worst water management records and yet the state governments are invincible.
The Mentri Besar has claimed that Perikatan can win 33 of the 36 state seats. The remaining three seats, Kota Darul Aman, Bakar Arang and Sidam, which have more than 50% non-Malay voters are Pakatan’s for the taking.
Meanwhile, Umno seems hampered by rumours that 15 of its MPS are hatching a revolt in conjunction with the six upcoming state elections.
The nature of the revolt varies from one telling to another and it is gaining currency despite its vague and inconsistent narrative.
Party insiders say it is propaganda by Bersatu to unsettle and create splits in Umno.
Fingers have also been pointed at former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who has been quite vocal in recent days.
However, Ismail Sabri told The Star: “Yes, I have also heard but I have nothing to do with it.”
He said that the rumours probably began after Perikatan politicians kept claiming that the unity government would not last.
Ismail Sabri said that if there is trouble, it would be visible if seat negotiations fail and if there are disputes over candidates.
“People have already ‘balik kampung’, it is the time for family and friends to enjoy. After that, it will be back to politics and I am going to be more active. Everyone is waiting for the state elections,” said Ismail Sabri.
The calm before the storm will probably end after the Hari Raya festivities.
ANN
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