Syed Saddiq: Count Muda out if PKR wants to work with ‘kleptocratic’ Umno
(Malaysiakini) – If there is any attempt by PKR president and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to work with Umno, Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) will not be part of the coalition, says Muda founder Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
The reason for this is simply because he does not want to compromise on the issue of kleptocracy and there are a number of prominent Umno leaders still facing trials on graft charges.
“My stand is that I am still in the opposition bloc. I have no problem supporting Anwar, I support his reform policies. But as for political cooperation, if he suddenly says ‘Saddiq, join the government with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib (Abdul Razak)’, I will say, it’s okay and I will refuse.
“We have to fight kleptocracy, that is clear, and I will not compromise. That is why, when I reprimand Anwar for this chapter, I reprimand him, and it is not wrong to reprimand him,” the Muar MP said in an interview with Mingguan Malaysia news portal.
The former youth and sports minister added that he would be a hypocrite if he brought Muda to join any possible tie-up between Umno and PKR.
Muda is also committed to strengthening the reform agenda and repairing the people’s socio-economy, even if it means moving alone as an opposition party, he said.
It has also been reported that Muda is considering cooperating with former Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal’s Warisan.
Earlier, former BN secretary-general Annuar Musa revealed a letter allegedly supporting the appointment of Anwar as prime minister, written by the party’s president Zahid to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. And this was witnessed by Najib.
Annuar said he revealed the letter because he did not agree with the stand of Umno leaders in supporting the PKR president.
Talk of cooperation between the two parties is rife after the leaked audio transmission of a conversation between two men whose voices were similar to those of Anwar and Zahid.
In the conversation, among others, they talked about the Umno General Assembly 2020 and the speech of the Bagan Datuk MP during the assembly.
Both men denied the authenticity of the video but so far, no police report has been lodged by them.
Meanwhile, an Umno MP also rejected any cooperation between his party and PKR.
Kuala Krau MP Ismail Mohamed Said, in fact, described Anwar as unfit to govern the country.
He told Utusan Malaysia that PKR’s willingness to work with DAP would alienate Malay voters.
PKR is unable to form a government without the support of DAP, he added.
“For decades, we have been enemies and should not be duped by Anwar’s political game, although he then went on to say that Umno should work with another long-time foe in PAS.”
Ismail said the political cooperation between Umno and PAS in the Muafakat Nasional needs to be further strengthened because it has proven to be successful.
