THE greatest challenge for liberal democracies in this current century is arguably the rise of populism, which seeks to drive a wedge between the idea of liberalism and democracy.

Since the end of the Cold War when communism was seemingly “defeated”, liberal democracies were more or less being bandied about as the better system of governance.

The anti-establishment sentiment was allowed to fester until the 2008 financial crisis, leading to the rise of populist movements such as Brexit and Trumpism in 2016.

It still perplexes me how Donald Trump could always come through unscathed from scandals, demagogic remarks, blunders or mismanagement, which would have disqualified almost any politician in the world.

Take for example when he was caught on tape saying he would grab a woman’s genitals – that would have meant the end of any politician with any ambition for high office.

Even now, there are studies suggesting that indicting the disgraced former president could actually make him more politically formidable in the presidential elections.

This is the one thing Pakatan Harapan (PH) should bear in mind when it faces Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor. 

Similar to Trump, Sanusi tried to project an image of a political leader who speaks the language of the ordinary people, yet he is a demagogue who persistently scapegoats minorities for political expediency.

This is the menteri besar who likened Malaysian Indians to drunkards, called black foreign football players “Awang Hitam”, and uttered sexist remarks questioning women’s capabilities in politics.

It should be clear that the bigotry, vulgarity and innuendos of these controversial statements contain language not too different to that used by Trump.

When Sanusi’s statements land him in hot water, he resorts to attacking the media for misquoting him, which is another favourite in the Trump playbook.

The whole “Kedah owning Penang” controversy is another racial trope couched in historical fact.

The menteri besar often shields himself by saying he quoted historical fact in saying Kedah has the right to take back Penang.

There is no denying Butterworth and the Penang island were once Kedah territory, but it is clear it is a dog-whistle strategy where Sanusi looks to drum up political support by openly questioning Penang’s sovereignty.

It is no coincidence Sanusi is taking aim at a DAP-controlled state. You would know the question of Penang’s sovereignty would never be an issue if it were led by Bersatu or PAS. 

In his podcast, former health minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad chided PH politicians and supporters for obsessing over every remark Sanusi makes, contributing to his newfound fame.

While PH supporters could choose not to respond to his provocations, PH politicians – especially those who oppose the values Sanusi espouses – must counter those questionable remarks that aim to deliberately incite tension.

For instance, not resisting or challenging Sanusi’s sexist remark – about how women are unfit to join state assemblies – would allow the toxic view to circulate without meaningful opposition.

However, I suspect this is part of the larger design of a strategy where Sanusi baits his detractors to make himself more politically prominent.

Unfortunately, Sanusi’s strategy appears to be working as the question of Penang’s sovereignty was brought up for debate. The issue was dealt with by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in parliament.

There is certainly too much attention being paid to this state-level politician, but PH lawmakers are not in a position to ignore Sanusi.

Aside from condemnation, PH does not have rebuttals to Sanusi’s inflammatory remarks.

This is all the more worrying as the Kedah government does not look likely to be toppled, mainly due to Sanusi’s charisma.

In this political climate, reporting Sanusi to the authorities and hoping for police action against him is not viable, as he and his supporters would just argue that the government is squeezing their freedom of expression.

As I have stated previously, cracking down on Sanusi may have the adverse effect of emboldening his supporters, judging from the American experience.

This is perhaps a symptom of our democracy, which was hardly liberal in the first place and may have always been fertile ground to produce a populist figure.

The United States, even with its constitution designed to prevent the rise of populism, was not immune to Trump. 

What are Malaysia’s odds in preventing the rise of our very own Donald Trump? – June 11, 2023.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.