Malaysian politics has been dominated by insults, apologies, and royalty for the past two weeks, which saw the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Kedah, Muhammad Sanusi being arrested for sedition for insulting the Sultan of Selangor.

Accusation

On July 11, Sanusi was speaking at a ceremah, or political gathering, in Selangor, part of PN's campaign for the upcoming state elections to be held on August 12.

Kedah and Selangor, along with with the north western states of Kelantan and Terengganu, Penang and Negri Sembilan, are holding state elections at the same time.

Sanusi is from Kedah, representing the fundamentalist religious party Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), which joins with Bersatu to form the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.

Sanusi is also PN's national election director, and was speaking in Selangor in this capacity.

But in a rambunctious hour long speech, he took a hammer to the various components of the governing Pakatan Harapan government (PH), targeting prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

He also targeted Selangor's own MB, Amirudin Shari, criticising him sharply. Such attacks are not unusual in Malaysian politics. However, Sanusi also invoked the sultans of both Kedah and Selangor.

Sanusi's speech as reported by the Malaysia Gazette, loosely translated, implied that the sultan of Selangor had erred by appointing Amirudin as MB of Selangor.

Watch your language

The speech immediately caught some traction. An opinion piece in Focus Malaysia used the speech to characterise Sanusi as a "pathological liar", but did not mention the slur involving the sultans.

It also noted his vital importance to PAS and PN, as a superstar electoral campaigner, credited with PN winning 14 out of 15 parliamentary seats in the 2022 general election.

Sanusi is a controversial figure. This month alone he is involved in: accusing the government of suspending his TikTok account, claiming that non-Muslims are responsible for more bribery, as well as trying to reclaim the state of Penang for Kedah.

Multiple Malaysian leaders cottoned on in the following days, with several politicians from PN, PH, as well as UMNO, all calling on Sanusi to watch his language.

Perhaps most tellingly was the comment of Hashim Jasin, a PAS spiritual leader, who was quoted by Free Malaysia Today on July 13 as warning Sanusi to "be mindful" when making speeches.

Controversy when referring to Malaysia's royalty

Sanusi had tread on one of the "3 Rs" of Malaysian politics: Race, Religion, and in this case Rulers. Jasin counselled Sanusi to avoid controversial statements on the 3Rs.

On July 14, the Selangor Royal council called on Sanusi to apologise for insulting Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the sultan of Selangor, according to The Star.

Five members of the council also lodged police reports against Sanusi, with one member Emran Kadir saying:

"During the event Muhammad Sanusi's remarks about the appointment of the Selangor Menteri Besar made it seem like the Sultan made the wrong choice.

We take this as an insult against the Sultan."

Emran added that they were not concerned with Sanusi's other comments, but that it was wrong of him to "touch on the Royal Institutions of other states". The sultan could appoint anyone he deemed fit to serve as MB.

Apology

Sanusi, seemingly realising that he had blundered, issued an apology of sorts on July 15, saying that his comments were "twisted by agents" of PH and Barisan Nasional (BN), according to the New Straits Times.

But on July 16, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said that the investigation in Sanusi's comments would continue despite his apology.

This culminated in a police raid at 3am on July 17, when Malaysian police arrested Sanusi in his apartment in Mount Kiara, a swish part of Selangor near Kuala Lumpur.

Razarudin said that the Sanusi was due to appear in court on July 17, but when police tried to contact him and his staff, their calls were rejected, according to The Star.

Told by Kedah police that he was not in the state, they became alarmed when Sanusi failed to make scheduled TV appearance, and decided to search for him, and arrested him to ensure that Sanusi would attend court to hear charges against him.

Razarudin said Sanusi was charged under the Sedition Act, and cited worries that leaving the matter alone might have lead to further insult and to all nine Malaysian sultans, as well as "raising feelings of disloyalty to the Royal Institution".

Support

PAS supporters turned out in droves to support Sanusi, both in person and on social media.

Pictures of Sanusi emerging from a car, with a arm and open palm raised upright, evoking the first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, and also, perhaps oddly, Anwar Ibrahim when he was arrested in the 1990s.

Back then, Anwar had emerged with the iconic black eye that would become a rallying cry for his party.

In contrast, Sanusi smiled broadly, as if taking in a great show, but no injury present other than a disturbed night of sleep.

THE HERO pic.twitter.com/Qnkfowvdgq

— Fairuz 🇲🇾 法瑞斯 🇲🇾 فيروز (@fairuz_azmi83) July 18, 2023

But that did not stop the comparisons implying that he was the true heir of the Reformation movement.

He managed to attract a packed crowd when he returned by plane to Kedah, mobbed by a few hundred supporters.

Orang Kedah sambut MB depa ✊ pic.twitter.com/MNdIasHZ77

— Syahir Sulaiman (@syahirnomic) July 18, 2023

Taking on a small aspect of the progressive mantle, upon his release and return to Kedah, Sanusi complained that there was no "freedom of speech in Malaysia", according to Free Malaysia Today, as well as claiming that the prosecution against him was politically motivated.

But his fellow party member Awang Hashim, from the PAS central committee admitted that Sanusi had "gone overboard", as quoted by The Malaysian Insight.

Saying it was a lesson to "all of us" and not just Sanusi, he said that it was now time to leave the matter to the legal process.

Anwar has replied to the accusations of the process being politically motivated by saying that the police report had come from the Selangor Royal court, and not from his government, according to Free Malaysia Today.

On social media, critiques were also leveled against Sanusi's PN partners.

Political artist Fahmi Reza noted the hypocrisy of Sanusi's complaints, saying that when PN had been in power under Muhyiddin Yassin, they had prosecuted him seven times for his art, but now PN bigwig Sanusi dared to complain about the lack of freedom of speech.

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Top image via @fairuz_azmi83/Twitter