Sanusi calls for MCA, MIC to quit BN

Kedah caretaker menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has urged BN components MCA and MIC to quit the coalition following their decisions to stand down from contesting in next month's six state elections.

This would serve as a sign of protest for them after BN treated the two parties "unfairly", he said.

"When the two BN parties are working with Pakatan Harapan, the 'mixed seats' will always be given to the 'non-Malay parties' in Harapan to contest, which are PKR and DAP.

"Thus, MCA and MIC will be left with no seats. Instead of being given seats that they will lose, they'd be better off quitting BN altogether. That would make more sense," he said during an interview on Facebook last night.

Sanusi (above) claimed that the two parties would have been treated differently if they were part of Perikatan Nasional.

"PN would have given the parties 'mixed seats' to contest."

On Wednesday, MCA and MIC announced they will not contest in Aug 12 polls. However, they are prepared to assist coalition candidates.

BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that the two parties' decision was unlikely a form of boycott and that he would seek explanations from them.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had also said that their decision will not affect their allegiance to the coalition government.

S’gor just ‘lucky’, all about location

During the interview, Sanusi also downplayed Harapan's role in making Selangor the most developed state in the country.

In fact, the state is only progressive due to its proximity to the country's capital Kuala Lumpur, the PAS leader claimed.

"Selangor is lucky because it's close to Kuala Lumpur, which is renowned for its development and booming commerce.

"If Kedah was near Kuala Lumpur, I'm sure the state would be far more developed than any other place, and Selangor would be left far behind," he said.

Thus, it would be wrong to attribute Selangor's development to Harapan, as the state was only "riding on" Kuala Lumpur's success, he added.

"The development from Kuala Lumpur has spilt onto some neighbouring towns in Selangor. If you see some towns in Selangor located further from the KL border, they are far less developed than other rural towns in other states."

Selangor recently announced its highest contribution to the country's economic growth - with 25.5 percent, up from the previous year's 24.8 percent.

In addition, the state's economy also grew faster than the national economy at 11.9 percent last year, compared to the national rate of 8.7 percent. In comparison, Kedah logged a gross domestic product (GDP) of 7.2 percent last year.

Despite lagging behind other states, Sanusi said that opposition-led states will prove that they can attract investments, which he said would "spook" the Harapan-BN-led federal government.

Rampant corruption

Sanusi claimed that integrity problems and corruption have become rampant under Anwar’s administration.

This is based on feedback the PAS leader has garnered from several businesspersons he met during his stint as menteri besar.

"As a menteri besar, I meet a lot of business people and they tell me that corruption and integrity issues have worsened under the administration.

"Even though the prime minister preaches against corruption, graft is still happening around him all the time," Sanusi said, adding that Anwar was aware of this matter, but did not address them to maintain his image.

The PN election director accused Anwar of failing to take steps to address the country’s economic crisis.

"The prime minister is more interested in going around the country to give ceramah and campaigning for the upcoming polls.

"Malaysians should urge Anwar (who is also the finance minister) to take serious steps to fix the financial issues.”

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