KUALA LUMPUR – Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman may have been a former ally of Pakatan Harapan (PH), but it is his prerogative to participate in Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) planned nationwide tour, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
He dismissed suggestions that the Muda founder and former president’s involvement would strengthen PN’s narrative against the unity government.
“It is up to (Syed Saddiq). I see that his party was not in agreement with this,” Fahmi said at an event at Taman Seri Sentosa Community Hall today.
“It is a democracy…whatever Muar (Syed Saddiq) wants to do, it is up to him.”
Yesterday, PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Syed Saddiq would join the coalition to explain current affairs to the public after Aidilfitri celebrations.
Muhyiddin said Syed Saddiq was “pro-PN” even though he was not joining the coalition or its parties.
However, Muda secretary-general Amir Hariri Abd Hadi denied Muda’s involvement in the event, asserting that the matter was never addressed by the party’s central executive committee.
Syed Saddiq stepped down from his role as Muda president in November last year after the high court found him guilty of two counts of money laundering, one count of criminal breach of trust and one count of misappropriating Bersatu-linked funds amounting to RM1.12 million.
Muda, which aligned with PH for the 15th general election in 2022, withdrew support from the unity government and joined the opposition bench last year to protest the discontinuation of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s graft trial. – March 10, 2024