.jpg)
By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright March 2023
Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor said he is not allowed to attend the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition in May 2023, which is expected to be the largest one to date.
LIMA'23 expects "600 exhibitors of which 240 or 40 percent will be from the commercial sector. This is an increase from the approximately 160 commercial exhibitors who were part of LIMA 2019.”
Unfortunately, Sanusi the Chief Minister of the state hosting the event has to stay away from the largest maritime show in the region.
Sanusi says this is the ‘latest decision’ made by Anwar Ibrahim’s Cabinet. An event held right in Sanusi's backyard and he is banned by the federal government from attending it.
Langkawi is not a Federal Territory like Labuan or Putrajaya. It is an island but is territorially part of Kedah. This island is not the same as Pulau Pinang which Kedah 'sold' to Francis Light and the EIC robber barons in the 18th century. It is part of Kedah although it is managed by Langkawi Development Authority (LADA).
Incidentally, only Kedah has a place named SINGKIR which means exile. In the early days, it was believed to be the place where the Kedah rulers would banish or exile those undesirables much like Britain did with Australia, considered a dumping ground for criminals in 18th Century or soon after the continent was discovered by Captain Cook and there were hardly anyone except the Aborigines there.
Anyway, what crime did Sanusi commit to be banned from his own "backyard" by a lord and master in Kuala Lumpur? All we know is what news reported “Cabinet’s call: Sanusi claims being barred from Lima, federal events in Kedah.”
“What to do?” Sanusi said in a Facebook post, without elaborating.
The only plausible reason that might explain the banning is perhaps a defamation suit filed by Anwar against Sanusi in December last year over remarks that the MB had made in a campaign speech during GE15.
"Anwar alleged that Sanusi’s remarks implied that he had abused his powers as an MP, was deceitful, a traitor, a hypocrite, and not a good Muslim."
Sanusi's lawyers responded recently saying that "Sanusi's remarks on Anwar were based on matters which were derived from public records going back to 1998 when he was sacked from the government."
In any case, it is strange that Anwar would resort to banning an opponent in politics when he himself had said that the "defamation suit filed against Sanusi would not affect cooperation between the Kedah and federal governments."
This is indeed odd. Maybe PMX would find it awkward to address the MB of Kedah in an LIMA speech if he was to officiate the opening ceremony of the event. We hope it was just an oversight or high handedness of some minor officials in the PMX's entourage in mishandling the invitation.
However, after writing the above, we read that Sanusi had revealed that there is actually a letter from the cabinet that bans him from attending all events organised by the federal government. According to Sinar Daily, "Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor revealed today that there is a written order prohibiting him from attending official events organised by the federal government.
"He said an officer from his office informed him on this, and he personally saw the letter issued by the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim."
That ended our speculation that it was just a rumour or an oversight.
Mihar Dias is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
