KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — Kedah menteri besar candidate Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has claimed that he was forced to pretend to appear calm during campaigning for the Kedah state election to not affect Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) morale.

In a report by the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia, Sanusi said he still feels “injured” and “bleeding” after receiving relentless attacks from Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders.

“After the dissolution of the state assembly, it would be a lie if I said that I did not feel pressured by all the attacks that were directed at me as the head of the government. I pretended to be cool to ensure that the Perikatan Nasional candidates remained calm in the face of this challenge.

“I absorbed all the attacks on myself so that all my other friends were saved from the shooting, it happened to the other candidates and they went to other states,” he told reporters in Kedah.

Sanusi emphasised his determination to continue the fight against possible attacks from the federal government, claiming both PH and BN leaderships have focused their attention on Kedah as the battleground for the state election war.

“All the PH and BN leadership in Kedah and the rest of the country are pointing their cannons at the state of Kedah, they have chosen Kedah as the battlefield in the state election war,” he was quoted as saying.

According to the report, he said that he still needs the support of voters in the state to continue the struggle including several court cases and suits worth hundreds of millions of ringgit that he is facing.

Last week, Berjaya Corporation Berhad founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Berjaya Land Berhad slapped a defamation lawsuit against Sanusi, seeking compensation over his remarks in an August 2 speech in relation to land in Selangor.

Incoming Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari also had served a letter of demand on Sanusi over the latter’s alleged defamatory remarks in the same August 2 speech in Jitra, Kedah.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had linked Sanusi to illegal rare earth elements mining activities in the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve, Sik, and warned Sanusi to brace himself for a court reckoning once the police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission have completed their investigations on the matter.

In the state election on Saturday, PN won 33 out of 36 seats in the Kedah state assembly.

Sanusi, who is also Kedah PAS deputy commissioner, defended the Jeneri state seat, defeating BN candidate Datuk Muhamad Khizri Abu Kassim with a majority of 16,050 votes.