Sanusi mocks Ramkarpal with offer to lecture Muslims on gambling

 Kedah menteri besar says efforts to ban gambling in the state will continue despite the Federal Court ruling.

Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor said the decision on whether gambling activities are allowed in the state now rests with the finance minister.

PETALING JAYA:

Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor has taken a swipe at DAP MP Ramkarpal Singh, sarcastically offering to invite the lawmaker to give a talk or ceramah to Muslims on why they should not gamble.

Ramkarpal had urged Sanusi to focus on discouraging Muslims from gambling instead of trying to circumvent the Federal Court’s decision to reject the state government’s bid for leave to appeal a ruling on issuing gambling licences.

However, Sanusi said efforts to ban gambling in the state would continue.

“We already have someone from DAP reminding us not to look for ways (to ban gambling in Kedah),” he said during a session on the obstacles to banning gambling in Kedah, organised by the Kedah Information Secretariat.

“Fine, we’ll invite him to give a talk later. Let DAP give a talk to Muslims telling them not to gamble.”

On Aug 12, the Federal Court rejected the Kedah government’s attempt to overturn a ruling that barred the state administration from refusing to renew licences for pool betting and lottery operators.

Sanusi said the decision on whether gambling activities would be allowed in Kedah now rested with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister.

He said Kedah residents would be angry with Anwar if the prime minister approved gambling activities.

“So the ball is in the finance minister’s court,” he said.

Meanwhile, PAS central legal and human rights bureau chairman Wan Rohimi Wan Daud claimed there were also efforts to challenge the Perlis government’s directive to stop and shut down gambling premises in the state.

He said a group had filed an application to challenge the move.

“What Kedah has gone through may spread to Perlis next. I was informed that in Perlis, this gambling group has already filed a new case.

“They want to challenge it like in Kedah, and then target other states,” the Melor assemblyman said at the briefing.

Perlis menteri besar Abu Bakar Hamzah said in June that his administration remained committed to eliminating gambling activities by maintaining the closure of gambling outlets, a policy initiated by his predecessor, Shukri Ramli.

Perlis shut down gambling premises in stages, following the closure of the last numbers forecasting outlet in Padang Besar in early March. - FMT