Muda chief tells critics to look at his record
GEORGE TOWN: Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said tonight he stood by his record, in answer to critics in Pakatan Harapan who allege he is secretly a henchman of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said his record and that of his party would speak for themselves.
Syed Saddiq, who is MP for Muar, said that he had been the first non-PH member of Parliament to sign a sworn statement of support when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was mounting his bid to become prime minister in 2020.
“I persuaded the non-PH opposition blocs to come together and support the statutory declarations,” he said, referring to political leaders such as Shafie Apdal (of Warisan) and Mahathir.
Syed Saddiq, speaking to FMT after closing a Muda fundraising dinner here, said he had been loud in opposition to the Sheraton Move led by Bersatu, his party then, to form a new government.
On the night of the Sheraton gathering, he had contacted PH leaders to meet Mahathir, then prime minister, the following day to save his government.
“When the prime minister did not turn up, I brought them to meet him at his personal residence on Tuesday (Feb 25) in an attempt to save the PH government,” he said.
After Bersatu left PH, he said that he stood firm in rejecting offers of a ministership or chairmanship of a government company under the new Perikatan Nasional government.
On Muda’s record, he pointed out that the party clashed with Pejuang at all the seven seats that they contested at, and got more votes than the party.
On claims that Muda sought to contest only in safe seats, he said Muda had contested in mostly rural, Malay-majority Felda seats at the Johor state elections last year.
“In a seat like Tenang, we were able to defeat PN decisively,” he said.
Lim Wei Jiet of Muda secured 3,644 votes against Ahmad Humaizi Uzir of PN, who got 2,729 votes. However, the seat was won by BN. Muda won in Puteri Wangsa and lost six other seats.
On Muda’s application to join Pakatan Harapan, he said he had been meeting several PKR leaders over the past few months. He welcomed the formation of a PH committee to evaluate the party’s application.
