KUALA LUMPUR - State elections in August have put the spotlight on a pair of fast-rising non-clerics in the fundamentalist Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

       Soft-spoken Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, 52, one of the party’s three vice-presidents, wiped out the opposition in Terengganu to retain the Menteri Besar, or chief minister, post. His counterpart in Kedah, Datuk Seri Sanusi Md Nor, 49, gained prominence as a shoot-from-the-hip orator who retained the state with a commanding majority despite being hit with sedition charges for insulting the monarchy.

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       Malaysia Malaysian politics Parti Islam SeMalaysia Pakatan Harapan Abdul Hadi Awang

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       The rise of the non-clerics in Malaysia’s Islamist PAS party

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       The rise of the non-clerics in Malaysia’s Islamist PAS party

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