Kedah leader told not to blame PM over gambling premises issue

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is being urged by a state official not to shift blame to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding the failure to close gambling premises in the state.

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Sanusi, don’t move the goalposts, please answer your own administration’s failures factually and stop making the Prime Minister a target.

Tunku Nashrul Abaidah, Communications Director for the Kedah State Leadership Council (MPN), stated that Sanusi should address his own administration's shortcomings factually rather than involving unrelated parties. "Sanusi, don't move the goalposts, please answer your own administration's failures factually and stop making the Prime Minister a target," Abaidah urged.

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Don’t throw stones and hide your hand. The two-faced attitude and feigned piety on this issue clearly reflect political hypocrisy.

Abaidah accused Sanusi of hypocrisy, noting that when Sanusi's party, PAS, was part of the Perikatan Nasional government, the number of special lottery draws was increased from eight to 22 annually. He contrasted this with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who reduced the draws back to eight per year.

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The reality is, when Pas was in the Perikatan Nasional Government, the administration his party joined increased special lottery draws from eight to 22 times a year.

The controversy reignited after a court decision sided with gambling premises operators, invalidating the Kedah state government's move to not renew their licenses. Abaidah highlighted that the court found Sanusi's administration's decision to be beyond the state's jurisdiction, and an appeal was also rejected by the Federal Court, underscoring the separation of powers in Malaysia's judicial system.

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Conversely, Datuk Seri Anwar as Prime Minister and Finance Minister, who is cursed by Sanusi, is the one who reduced it back to eight times a year.