The election director of Malaysia’s biggest opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional has been charged with the country’s colonial-era sedition laws, just weeks before he is set to spearhead the alliance in the state elections next month.
Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor was charged on two counts of sedition at a Sessions Court in the state of Selangor over remarks that allegedly could incite disloyalty to the country’s rulers, local media reported Tuesday, citing court charges. He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.
Sanusi is the latest among a group of PN leaders to face court charges since Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took office last November. PN president Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Malaysia’s former premier, and the alliance’s former information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan were both charged with graft earlier this year.
Sanusi allegedly questioned the decision-making of both Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah in his political speech in Selangor on July 11, according to media reports. He had issued an apology to the Sultan of Selangor last Friday. Selangor is among the states headed for elections in August, alongside Kedah, Penang, Terengganu, Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan. Sanusi, the caretaker chief minister of the northern Kedah state, remains eligible to contest in the polls.