ALOR STAR – Kedah Pakatan Harapan elections director Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has stepped up the pressure on his rival – PAS elections director Datuk Seri Muhammed Sanusi Md Nor – by producing a photograph of the latter posing with a Chinese national, who is wanted by police for alleged illegal mining.
Saifuddin, who is home minister made good on his promise to release in stages his claims that the Sanusi-led Kedah government in 2020 was somehow connected to the Chinese national identified as So Loi Fat, who is accused of illegally extracting precious rare earth elements in the state.
Denying that it is part of his political campaign for the state elections on August 12th, Saifuddin said that it was about unearthing the truth.
“Sanusi should explain why he denied any knowledge of the man, identified as So Loi Fat, in spite of signing a letter to the then-home minister to facilitate the man’s application to enter the country in 2020. Sanusi claimed that he doesn’t know who is So Loi Fat and that he was not involved with MBI (Menteri Besar Incorporated) affairs. For sure, it is not wrong for Sanusi to pose for a picture with So Loi Fat... we are not arguing that. But why did he deny knowing the man?” Saifuddin asked.
Sanusi had written a letter to the then home minister clearly stating that he had applied for a working pass for So Loi Fat.
“Since you applied on his behalf, how can you claim to not know him?” the PH secretary-general told a media briefing here.
Although Sanusi has issued a notice of demand to Saifuddin on the grounds of possible libel over the issue, the latter has persisted, and investigations from police are beginning to unlock the mystery behind the illegal mining of the precious minerals.
As Saifuddin battles with Sanusi for votes in Kedah in what is billed as the battle between “two S”, he stressed that the motivation is purely on finding out the truth.
Sanusi’s Perikatan Nasional remains favourite to in next month’s Kedah polls, but political insiders here believe that PH now has a fighting chance.
Kedah has become a focal battleground among the six states facing elections due to the swing factor in the state.
In 2008, voters here swung to the PAS-led Pakatan Rakyat, in 2013, they turned back to Barisan Nasional and in 2018, they swung back to PH but in 2020, the then-state government fell to PAS and its new ally Bersatu after then menterii besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir lost his majority in the state assembly.
Meanwhile, in Alor Star, Sanusi said Loi Fat was already in the country even before he was appointed menteri besar in 2020.
He said So Loi Fat, who also owns the company Prospek Suria, had come to his office with a lawyer, who is also Saifuddin’s good friend.
“Prospek Suria was already working with MBI Kedah on the rare earth elements project before I became menteri besar. Saifuddin claims I signed the letter for So Loi Fat to enter Malaysia, when in fact, he was already here.
“I only realised that the man Saifuddin was talking about all this while was Mr So after I saw the picture,” he said.
He said Saifuddin needed to recheck his information.
Sanusi however, said he would not reveal the name of the lawyer who represented Loi Fat as he knew “Saifuddin’s tactics” with regard to the issue.
He said the person who stole the rare earth elements was in fact a Malaysian, who has already been compounded.
He also questioned why Saifuddin was so “eager” to investigate the rare earth elements case in Kedah, while there were 59 other illegal mines identified in the country. – The Vibes, August 1, 2023
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