By Amar Shah Mohsen and Danial Dzulkifly
SHAH ALAM, July 26 — Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is not used to being put under the spotlight and is hence more susceptible to committing errors and blunders.
This was Selangor Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari’s theory on what led to the recent debacle that saw the Perikatan Nasional (PN) election director insulting Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj and later charged for the offence.
“What happened with Sanusi was, I feel he became over-excited when placed in such a position (as Menteri Besar). Perhaps he was never a popular actor or singer to begin with.
“So, when he is placed in a high-ranking position, he becomes ‘acrophobic’,” he said during a podcast session with Studio Madani last night.
“And when you have acrophobia, there is a higher tendency to commit and be exposed to mistakes.”
Amirudin was asked to comment on Sanusi’s action in insulting the state ruler and whether this issue could be the catalyst to a major swing of support away from PN.
On July 18, the PAS leader pleaded not guilty to two counts of sedition at the Selayang Sessions Court.
This was over his remarks during a political ceramah on July 11 that the Kedah Sultanate was the only one in the country with an uninterrupted lineage and that the state ruler would not have appointed Amirudin to be his Menteri Besar, in what appears to be a dig at the Selangor Sultan.
Sanusi was also charged for questioning if it was true that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had decreed for a unity government to be established following the conclusion of the 15th general election last November.
Later in the podcast, Amirudin expressed concern that the divisive narratives propagated by certain political leaders in PN could pose a risk to future generations and the country as a whole.
He likened this situation to the saying “what goes around, comes around”, suggesting that the consequences of such politics can boomerang on those who engage in them.
“The maturity of the leaders is based on their priorities. Some are too consumed by ego, personal vendetta and vengeance politics to the point it could burn themselves and even the entire nation.
“So I keep coming back to this point, that you reap what you sow, especially if they keep playing with sentiments.
“The danger is that you do not know what sort of unimaginable risks can come out from this sort of politics,’’ he said.
