Sanusi chides Puad: Don't act pious, how many millions did you spend?

Summary

• Kedah MB Sanusi Nor rebukes Umno’s Puad Zarkashi, accusing him of also spending millions in past elections and telling him not to “act like a saint.”

• The exchange follows Puad’s dismissal of PAS’ claim that its campaigns are funded through small donations, noting Sanusi himself once said contesting a parliamentary seat costs at least RM1 million.

• The spat comes amid ongoing discourse over the flow of funds within Perikatan Nasional.

Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor has hit back at Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi for questioning PAS' claim that the Islamist party's election campaign was funded by "Milo tin" fundraisers.

Sanusi who is also PAS and Perikatan Nasional election director, told Puad (above, left) that the latter had likely spent millions in the last general election as well as internal polls.

"No need to act like a saint, Puad. How many millions did you spend in the last election?

"To be elected as a candidate in BN, you have to spend a lot of money. To enter the election, you have to spend millions - only that might not have been your own money.

"Where you got the money, only you know," Sanusi said in a statement today.

Earlier, Puad raised the issue after Sanusi denied that Bersatu had channelled political funds to his party.

Sanusi claimed that PAS collected funds through small donations from the people.

However, Puad dismissed the claim as unreasonable, referring to Sanusi's previous statement that the cost of winning a parliamentary seat could reach at least RM1 million.

Spill the beans

Puad also challenged Bersatu to reveal the details if there was indeed a channelling of political funds to PAS.

He said that such open disclosure is important to unravel the controversy over the flow of funds in Perikatan Nasional.

He also quipped that Bersatu does not need to worry about revealing the details because there is no specific Act that regulates political funds.

The issue of PAS' funds began heating up when Sanusi rebuked PN component parties.

In his winding-up speech at PAS’ 71st muktamar in Kedah, Sanusi said the party had to fork out a huge sum to cover election costs, whereas there were “rakan-rakan” (allies) who came to contest with empty hands.

“We are facing friends who depend on equipment that we pay for. It happened here (Kedah), and I think the same also happened in other states.

“We asked each branch (to prepare) RM120,000 per ballot box. Before this, we have been paying for all the equipment, while they (PAS’ friends) came to contest without any worries.

“They do not have the machinery, they do not have money. Everything they did depended on us. But they want to be the leader?" he said in an apparent jab against Bersatu.

A day later, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin's former aide, Marzuki Mohamad, shot back and claimed that PAS received “significant financial contributions” from the Bersatu president in the 2022 general election, which contributed to the party’s gains in the election.

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