KUALA LUMPUR – Muda founder Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman may have found himself caught in a bind after lambasting Pakatan Harapan (PH) for fielding “political frogs” and “prioritising power”.
In the not too distant past, the Muar MP had openly embraced Umno defectors, such as Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, into Bersatu when Syed Saddiq was the party’s youth chief, and even enticed other Umno leaders to follow suit.
His actions then were made evident in several postings on Twitter that have since been deleted.
A Tweet made on October 27, 2018 sees Syed Saddiq welcoming Mustapa – affectionately known as Tok Pa – into Bersatu, saying he was “looking forward” to working with the Jeli parliamentarian.
Another undated post shows the social media savvy Syed Saddiq openly inviting his Youth and Sports Ministry predecessor Khairy Jamaluddin to join Bersatu to “move Malaysia forward”.
“As UMNO-PAS steer further to the right, it’s timely for BERSATU to position itself as the centrist party for the Malays,” Syed Saddiq posted, inviting Khairy to join the likes of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and Mustapa.
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Following the fallout brought on by the Sheraton Move in February last year, Syed Saddiq went on to form the left-leaning Muda, which on Saturday launched a fiery salvo against PH, its own opposition ally.
Noting his party had been in discussions with PH over the possibility for Muda to contest in the Melaka election, he said his party pulled out after PH fielded former state chief minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron and his followers, who brought the collapse of the state government.
“For nearly two weeks, Muda has been discussing with PH to form a united opposition front in the state election. Unfortunately, PH decided in the end to field and prioritise the political frogs that triggered the fall of the Melaka administration,” Syed Saddiq said on Saturday.
“Muda rejects the politics of frogs (party-hopping), undignified politics, and politics without principles that have caused problems for the public, which have led to the waste of RM42 million (of taxpayer money) for a state election amidst the pandemic.”
He added that Muda does not want to be associated with PH’s brand of “undignified politics” that is seemingly bereft of values, as the former does not prioritise seats over principles.
Referring to Syed Saddiq’s past tweets, PH leaders have called out his seeming double standards.
Asked to respond to the allegations by PH, Syed Saddiq distanced himself from actions he made while he was a Bersatu member.
“I set up Muda to embrace new value-based politics,” Syed Saddiq told The Vibes.
“(This is for me) to no longer be imprisoned by old politics practiced by my old party. The same party that expelled me for rejecting Sheraton, the mother of all kataks (frogs).”
Youth leader allegedly eyes a seat
Prior to Syed Saddiq’s response, a source who is privy to negotiations between PH and Muda, claimed the Muar MP had “offered” himself to contest in the Melaka polls during the talks, but technicalities involving his place of residence prevented this from materialising.
The well-placed source said Syed Saddiq had eyed the Paya Rumput constituency, a seat held by Melaka Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen, although the Election Commission (EC) requires candidates to reside in the states that they wish to contest.
“He (Syed Saddiq) was blindsided by the (EC) rules,” the source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said.
“None of the other candidates offered by Muda were qualified under the rules, and the party was supposed to announce this, but instead, it decided to take the moral high ground and attack PH over alleged ‘frogs’.”
Syed Saddiq’s offensive was made shortly after opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pointed to “technical problems” that led to no fielding of candidates from Muda.
Anwar confirmed that talks were recently held with at least three Muda leaders, but he declined to elaborate on the details of the discussions, allowing Muda to make their announcement on the matter.
“PH had outright rejected two candidates who were directly involved in the Sheraton move, but felt that Idris and Nor Azman had nothing to do with it,” the senior PH member said.
“When withdrawing support for chief minister (Datuk Seri) Sulaiman Md Ali, they (Idris and Datuk Nor Azman Hassan) never said they were leaving their parties to join PKR or Amanah.”
Syed Saddiq denies eyeing Paya Rumput
Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq denied these claims outright.
“(It’s) Not true. We wanted to nominate local Muda reps in Melaka. However, some in (Pakatan) Harapan suggested that I contest as a precondition, which may lead to the ‘residence issue’,” Syed Saddiq said.
“I’ve stated from the beginning that Muda wanted to field dynamic local reps. I never once offered myself (to contest).”
Asked whether there was an opportunity to reconcile with PH, Syed Saddiq replied in the negative.
“If I supported politik katak (party-hopping politics), I'll still be a part of Bersatu.” – The Vibes, November 7, 2021
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