NEWLY married Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is optimistic that Perikatan Nasional can seize other Malay heartland states in the next general election as community sentiments align with the Malay-dominant parties.
Sanusi, who took a second wife on recommendation of his first wife recently, said that the present SG4 club of Perlis, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan can be extended to include Pahang, Perak, Malacca and Negri Sembilan.
“I want to tell everyone that SG4 can be expanded to become SG8,” he told journalists after handing over land grants to settlers at Felda Belimbang in Kedah.
Sanusi said this in response to Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi’s comment that the SG4 club was irrelevant if one or two states under it were taken back by Barisan Nasional (BN), which Umno leads, in the next election.
Puad said that Terengganu, Kedah dan Perlis could be regained by BN with the help of its unity government allies such as Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Laughing off Puad’s claims, Sanusi said that BN has no state seats in Kedah, Perlis and Terengganu, with only a handful in Kelantan, while in his home state, there are just PKR and DAP which won state seats.
How can the former ruling coalition win, Sanusi asked.
“Stop worrying about the impossible. It is we who can win more states instead,” said Sanusi.
Sanusi also took umbrage to criticism that the SG4 club was just a RM2 company after it was agreed that the four states would combine their respective natural and financial resources to become a dominant economic bloc by forming a corporate entity.
“Importantly, SG4 was formed to stimulate business between four PN states. We will focus on joint ventures and negotiations among our own state-linked companies. There is no issue here.”
Each state will have a 25% stake in the proposed company so the revenue is shared equally.
There are areas to tap such as education, mining of minerals and composites as well as agriculture.
Sanusi also assured that the company would be governed within the Federal Constitution.
On Monday, the club’s adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a former prime minister, announced the formation of a corporate entity for the four states to explore more mutual economic opportunities.
SG4 was formed on grounds that the four opposition states were not receiving adequate attention from the national unity government, led by their PH and BN rivals. – September 5, 2024.
.JPG)
