CARETAKER Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has described his Kedah counterpart Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor as copying former US president Donald Trump, citing his penchant for controversies.
Acknowledging Sanusi’s “pull”, Amirudin said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) election director’s style of campaigning, his look and the way he speaks are all similar to the disgraced former US president.
“He is just copying Trump,” the Selangor Pakatan Harapan chief told FMT in an interview recently.
“That (Trump’s) style of politics will only lead to turmoil, as we saw in the US during Trump’s presidency.”
PAS may not realise it, he said, but Sanusi’s actions, from raising parochial sentiments to straying from norms when talking about the royalty, were very Trump-like.
Amirudin, who is also the Gombak MP, said he believes that Sanusi was purposely courting controversy to distract from allegations of rare earth elements (REE) theft surrounding his administration in Kedah.
Sanusi was also recently accused of making defamatory remarks on a river-widening project known as the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG).
In Sanusi’s speech on Aug 2 during a PN ceramah in Jitra, Kedah, Sanusi alleged that Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan was Amirudin’s “tauke” or boss.
Malaysiakini also reported that Sanusi also alleged that Selangor could bear losses of up to RM180 mil due to the SMG project and questioned how Tan could obtain a significant stake in companies owned by the Selangor Chief Minister Incorporated (MBI-Selangor).
On Monday (Aug 7), Tan issued a letter of demand to Sanusi, demanding a public apology over allegedly defamatory claims involving the SMG project.
Tan as well as Berjaya Land Bhd are also demanding RM200 mil in compensation, saying Sanusi’s statements had tarnished Berjaya Land’s integrity, credit, reputation and image.
Amirudin is similarly pursuing legal action against Sanusi for slander.
Bernama reported Amirudin as saying that his lawyer will be sending the summons to the PAS leader today or the latest by Thursday.
He said the move is to defend his credibility as the menteri besar, the state administration as well as civil servants who were also affected by Sanusi’s baseless allegations. – Aug 8, 2023
