KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -&nbsp;Malaysia&nbsp;on Tuesday charged&nbsp;opposition&nbsp;leader&nbsp;Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor with&nbsp;sedition&nbsp;for allegedly insulting the country's revered sultans, state media Bernama reported.
Muhammad Sanusi, a popular politician with the Islamist party PAS and the chief minister of Kedah state, has pleaded not guilty, according to the report, which said he was charged with two counts of&nbsp;sedition&nbsp;over&nbsp;remarks&nbsp;made in a political speech this month.
Malaysia's sultans play a largely ceremonial role, including acting as custodians of Islam in the Muslim-majority country, and are held in deep respect.
Negative&nbsp;remarks&nbsp;about its&nbsp;royalty&nbsp;can be prosecuted under a colonial-era&nbsp;Sedition&nbsp;Act, which has been used against people who criticise the sultans on social media.
It is similar to Thailand, which has a strict lese majeste law prohibiting insults against its monarchy. However,&nbsp;sedition&nbsp;charges&nbsp;against&nbsp;Malaysian politicians have been rare in recent years.
The&nbsp;charges&nbsp;come as political tensions rise in&nbsp;Malaysia&nbsp;ahead of next month's regional polls in which the&nbsp;opposition&nbsp;alliance - which includes PAS - is expected to pose a strong challenge to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's ruling alliance.
Kedah is one of the six states that will elect a new government on Aug. 12.
Muhammad Sanusi's&nbsp;remarks, according to other media reports, questioned decisions taken by the&nbsp;royalty&nbsp;regarding the formation of government in the federal and state level.
If found guilty, he faces up to three years in prison and a maximum penalty of 5,000 ringgit ($1,102.54).
($1 = 4.5350 ringgit)
&nbsp;
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Martin Petty)

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Malaysia charges opposition leader with sedition over remarks on royalty