Something surprising happened last week.

It started when prime minister Anwar Ibrahim arrived at Alor Setar for a day trip. Kedah MB Sanusi Md Nor, dressed in formal batik, bowed his body to a 90 degrees to shake Anwar’s hand, before they proceeded to the official cars prepared.

What made the news was Sanusi’s open apology to Anwar at a Hari Raya gathering between Anwar and the Kedah state government officials.

Sanusi said that as fallible human beings, he, like others, are prone to mistakes and errors. In front of cabinet ministers and 15,000 people, he sought forgiveness from Anwar and his cabinet for his “inappropriate remarks” made against them before, and hoped that the month of Syawal could allow them to turn a new leaf and start again.

To say what Sanusi said previously was “inappropriate” is an understatement. Sanusi, also the PN election director, has made several crass and downright outrageous remarks against Anwar’s government in the last state election 2023. He is prone to extreme exaggeration (claiming Kedah’s rare earth value was RM43 trillion when the real value is RM62 billion), racial insensitivity (linking Indians to alcoholism and non-Muslims to corruption) and downright tone-deaf remarks (joked about storing COVID-19 corpse to freezers). He could occasionally be vulgar on campaign trails, a far cry from the professional image expected from the highest state executive of Kedah.

But there is another key reason as to why Sanusi has now changed his tone. Anwar was in Kedah not only to attend the Hari Raya function but also the state development meeting. As part of Anwar’s government push to allocate developmental budget directly to the state, Anwar is doing a tour to all states to understand their specific problems and resolving them immediately.

Sanusi knows how critical this is as states still depend heavily on federal funding for most of their development. In other words, states have to be nice to the unity government lest they risk being underfunded and lose trust among its state voters. PAS has long positioned Sanusi as “God’s gift” who is capable of bringing massive development to the state, and Sanusi knows he will never achieve this if he doesn’t reconcile with Anwar.

Of course, you could argue whether Sanusi was indeed sincere in his apology. On one hand, you could say that he was. Because after the state election season in 2023, Sanusi has toned down his inappropriate remarks publicly and have not made any outrageous policy decisions like shutting down gambling shops as he did at the start of his term. You could say that perhaps he was inexperienced in the past, being only 2 years in as a state assemblyman and a first-time Menteri Besar, and thus he is learning how to be more professional.

On the other hand, you could say that he is merely tactical to play both sides. When he is campaigning as PN election director, he will attack the opponents without any regard for appropriateness. When he is Kedah MB, he will act professional and courteous — do anything to secure needed funding from the federal government. That also means that if the next election comes around, he might come back all guns blazing hitting at Anwar’s government, which will make you regret being deferential to his requests in the past.

We would never know Sanusi’s true intentions, and the only way to find out is if an important by-election took place up north of West Malaysia or when the next state or general election comes around.

In any case, this Sanusi apology proves something quite important about him as a leader, which is his willingness to be pragmatic to get something done. PAS’s leaders have always been proven to be more dogmatic in their religious and political approach. That means they rarely would concede. And their leaders are willing to forgo partnership even if it benefits their state if it means it would look like they are working with the enemy.

Terengganu MB had snubbed Anwar’s visit in January 2023 which was characteristic of how PAS plays politics, like how they did in Kelantan before. But Sanusi’s apology may indicate a change of stance, as they are adopting a pragmatic approach for their state, either out of humility or desperation.

When Anwar turns up at every PN state, you could bet that every MB will greet him at the doorstep. On paper, Anwar comes to chair the state development meetings, but in reality, he is also testing how far PN will go with their politics. If they play ball, Anwar may just achieve the effect of a stable government like Ismail Sabri, without signing an MOU, but just by turning up.

(James Chai is a Think Tank Chief Researcher and Legal Advisor)