KUALA LUMPUR – Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor should focus on addressing the plights faced by citizens in the state instead of admonishing them for requesting government assistance.
Kedah Umno chief Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid accused Sanusi, who is also PAS’ elections director, of betraying the people’s trust when the latter recently “advised” Kedahans to be “less dependent” on the PAS-led state government.
Labelling Sanusi’s remark as a “disappointing insult” to lower-income households, Mahdzir questioned whether state leaders are attempting to dodge their responsibility towards their constituents.
“When PAS leaders were campaigning during elections, they never told voters to not ask for help from their elected representatives once the candidate wins,” Mahdzir, who is also a former Kedah menteri besar, said in a statement today.
“With PAS in government after winning the (state) election, why is it only now that the state administration is asking poor people to stop asking for aid from PAS representatives? Are they trying to run away from their duties towards the people?”
In an event in Kedah yesterday, Sanusi reportedly said that the “culture” of state residents excessively depending on the government should be reduced as it could lead to citizens being easily controlled by authorities while losing their independence.
In response, Mahdzir urged the state government to formulate specific strategies to eliminate poverty in Kedah, asserting that when Barisan Nasional had governed the state, it had prioritised such an agenda.
Meanwhile, Kedah Umno information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin lambasted Sanusi’s comment as “unacceptable”, claiming it shows the inability of the Perikatan Nasional party to fulfil the people’s mandate as it cannot understand the people’s grouses.
“(Sanusi’s comment) sends a clear message that the state government and the menteri besar are lost and have not successfully carried out any plans or initiatives.
“The rakyat should carefully consider Sanusi’s statement during the process of renewing the people’s mandate in the future,” he said in a statement. – June 15, 2024