SIK: Pas deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim has expressed his confidence that the people’s support for Perikatan Nasional (PN) had been boosted following the arrest and prosecution of caretaker Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor on Tuesday.
He even joked that he was thankful to Sanusi, who is PN election director, for his arrest.
“Two days ago, I met somebody from Umno in Putrajaya. I asked for his opinion on what happened to Sanusi.
“He told me that prior to Sanusi’s arrest, they still had a 50-50 chance to win and defend Selangor, but after the (Sanusi’s) arrest, they seem to have lost all hope.
“It is true, at times I felt like I wanted to thank (Sanusi) for getting arrested. It’s true. But don’t do that too often, once is enough already,” Tuan Ibrahim said at Perhimpunan Munajat Perdana yesterday in support of Sanusi, who was also present.
Tuan Ibrahim said the relentless attacks by the Madani government on Sanusi was due to his ability to steer the state towards the right direction.
“When they started to attack Sanusi, not by just one or two cabinet ministers, I noticed that Kelantan is relaxed, and Terengganu is even more relaxed.
“All the attacks were directed at Sanusi. Why is that? It is because of his sterling performance.
“The things that he is fighting for are what Kedahans wanted all this while. Am I right?”
Tuan Ibrahim added that PN was on track to secure victories in the Aug 12 state polls.
On Tuesday, Sanusi pleaded not guilty to two counts of uttering seditious remarks that could incite disloyalty towards the rulers.
He was charged under Section 4(1)(a) of the Sedition Act, which carries a maximum penalty of three years’ jail and RM5,000 fine.
Sanusi, during a PN ceramah in Selayang, allegedly belittled Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari’s appointment by the sultan of Selangor.
Sanusi also drew comparisons between Sultan of Kedah Sultan Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah and Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, by describing the latter’s choice as “cokia” (substandard). NST
Footballers, academicians among PN candidates in state elections, says Sanusi
SIK: Two footballers and two academicians are among the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates in the upcoming state elections.
Its election director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said these candidates would be joining ustaz (religious teachers) and ulama (religious scholars) to represent PN in the polls, who would be led by a ‘panglima (commander)’.
“On Aug 12, vote for Perikatan Nasional. We will introduce some of our new players ahead of the new season.
“In the upcoming second transfer window, two professors will represent us. We already have two footballers, many ustazs and ulamas, and one ‘panglima’ to lead the charge,” Sanusi said during his speech at ‘Himpunan Munajat Perdana’ late yesterday.
Present were Pas deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, its vice president Datuk Idris Ahmad and Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
Media had recently reported that former Kedah football team captain Baddrol Bakhtiar would be fielded as a PN candidate in the state following his recent decision to leave Sabah Football Club.
Kedah PN is scheduled to announce its candidates next Wednesday after the initial plan to hold the event today was postponed.
Besides Kedah, the other states that will go to the polls on Aug 12 are Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu.
There are 36 state seats up for grabs in Kedah. PN held 20 seats before the state assembly dissolution on June 28 to pave the way for the polls. NST
Survey: Close to two-thirds of Selangor voters support unity government
SHAH ALAM: A survey by Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) has found that 78.9% of Selangor voters are expected to cast their ballots in the upcoming state election.
The think-tank under the Selangor government found that voter turnout for Pakatan Harapan supporters will be the highest at 86.6%, followed by Barisan Nasional at 72.8%, and Perikatan Nasional at 77.3%.
The survey, which was conducted from May 12-15, was randomly stratified across 1,692 respondents of all races from the 56 state constituencies in Selangor.
Each respondent was met face-to-face and keyed in their responses through IDE’s e-Survey application on a tablet.
The survey also found that 74% of the respondents favoured the Barisan-Pakatan pact, 16% preferred Perikatan, while 10% of respondents were “on the fence”.
As for youth aged 18 to 24 years – which had 267 respondents – 50% supported Barisan-Pakatan, while 18% favoured Perikatan.
According to the survey, 71.1% of Selangor voters have a positive perception of Pakatan, while 74.1% are in favour of the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
IDE chairman Prof Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman said there was encouraging support for Anwar, especially among the youth, following his programmes and tours in Selangor, particularly in public higher learning institutions.
“The advantage is that Selangor is near Putrajaya, so Anwar can hold more programmes here compared with other states,” he said.
Anwar’s remarks that he was against a plot to ban Umno had also increased his prestige among Umno supporters, said Mohammad Redzuan.
At a Jelajah Madani event in Guar Chempedak, Kedah last Saturday, Anwar claimed that former prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had planned to ban Umno after Pakatan assumed federal power in 2018.
Interesting results: Mohammad Redzuan giving a briefing on the Selangor government’s think-tank survey. — KK SHAM/The Star
Some 26.3% of the respondents in Selangor believe that Anwar is capable of bringing the Malaysia Madani concept and the country to greater heights, while 16.9% believe that he is capable of uniting the various races.
A total of 16.1% respondents believe that he is capable of combating corruption and abuse of power, while 14.1% said he is capable of addressing the rising cost of living issue.
The survey also found that the Barisan-Pakatan coalition was leading in terms of Malay support in the state.
From a total of 978 Malay respondents in the survey, IDE found that 47.6% favoured the Barisan-Pakatan pact, while 27.2% favoured Perikatan.
Polling day for the state elections in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu is on Aug 12.
Nomination day will be on July 29, while early voting will be on Aug 8. ANN
NST / ANN
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