Ahmad Zahid Tells Sanusi To Focus On Kedah And Keep Away From Negeri Sembilan

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Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had a message for Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor: be careful with your words, no matter how fired up you are inside.

“Kalau boleh, sehingga hari Sabtu nanti kita ada 6 hari lagi, saya ingat eloklah beliau sibukkan diri beliau mentadbir negeri Kedah, tak perlulah datang ke Negeri Sembilan rasanya. Biarlah kita ‘manage’ Negeri Sembilan dengan cara kita sendiri, yang lain-lain tu datang, takpalah,” the Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman said, when met by reporters at the Salam Agrikomoditi MADANI programme in Dataran Melang, Kuala Pilah on Saturday (25 July)

(With about six days left to polling day, just focus on managing Kedah, there is no need to come to Negeri Sembilan. Let us manage Negeri Sembilan in our own way. For the rest to come, that’s fine.)

The two men are, technically, on the same side.

Muhammad Sanusi, who serves as PN’s election director for the Negeri Sembilan state election, delivered the coalition’s opening ceramah in Jempol two days ago.

He warned that Malay political power and economic dominance were eroding — and could disappear entirely within ten years if nothing changed.

He called Malaysia the last land the Malays could call their own.

The speech was meant to fire up the base, and it did, just not the base Ahmad Zahid needed.

The Tiger and the Votes

Ahmad Zahid did not dispute Muhammad Sanusi’s facts; he questioned his manners — and his delivery.

“Biarpun ada harimau di dalam dada beliau,” he said, smiling. “Sangat sesuai untuk yang keluar dari kalam beliau itu kambing saja.”

(Even if there is a tiger in his chest, what should come out of his mouth is just a goat.)

The rebuke was not merely personal; it was arithmetic — BN and PN are not running as a joint ticket, but under an electoral understanding to avoid splitting the vote, with BN contesting 25 of Negeri Sembilan’s 36 state seats and PN contesting 11.

BN needs its component parties — including MIC and MCA — to deliver non-Malay votes in mixed seats.

The day before Ahmad Zahid’s remarks, MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran had already called on BN to consider contesting solo in future elections, citing repeated statements from PAS leaders that he said had hurt non-Malay communities.

Not Wrong, Just Unsuitable

Ahmad Zahid’s response the following day was, in part, an answer to that pressure.

He framed it carefully — not as a defence of minority rights, but as theology.

“Saya yakin kepada kemajmukan rakyat di negara ini. Latar belakang ini adalah sunatullah yang telah ditentukan,” he said.

Malaysia’s diversity, he argued, was God’s design; it was not a subject that needed revisiting.

He did not say Muhammad Sanusi was wrong; he said Muhammad Sanusi was unsuitable — for this audience, in this state, at this moment.

“Ucapan beliau (Muhammad Sanusi) mungkin sesuai untuk khalayak negeri Kedah,” Ahmad Zahid said.

(Muhammad Sanusi’s speech may be suitable for the people of Kedah.)

At the same time, DAP deputy chairman Nga Kor Ming strongly slammed Muhammad Sanusi’s remarks, declaring that non-Malays are not immigrants and demanding swift police action against divisive political tactics.

The Cleanup Crew

By Saturday evening (24 July), PAS’s own supporter wing had entered the chat.

DHPP — Dewan Himpunan Pendukung PAS — released a poster urging all parties not to “manipulate” Muhammad Sanusi’s speech, insisting that his “Cina ada China, India ada India” remark was taken out of context and was never directed at Malaysian Chinese and Indians.

The poster listed four points: the speech was misquoted; Chinese and Indians are Malaysian citizens; stop inflating issues for political gain; harmony is a shared responsibility.

The tell was in the opening line: “Ucapan tersebut tidak merujuk kepada rakyat Cina dan India Malaysia.” — “The speech was not directed at Malaysian Chinese and Indians.”

Muhammad Sanusi himself was less conciliatory; he doubled down, saying what he said was fact — not provocation.

READ MORE: “The Malays Only Have This Land”: Sanusi Turns A Negeri Sembilan Rally Into A Civilisational Warning

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Ahmad Zahid Tells Sanusi To Focus On Kedah And Keep Away From Negeri Sembilan
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