MUDA as 3rd Force?

(Extracts)


MUDA as 3rd Force?


Just a day after Pakatan Harapan retained the supermajority by winning the Pulai seat in Johor in a by-election last month, MUDA president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman suddenly announced his decision to pull out of the unity government bloc. The decision to quit leaves the ruling coalition with only 147 seats, 1 seat short of super-majority in the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House).



Armed with just one seat in the Parliament, the ungrateful punk said his party would form a “third force” to provide a check and balance. But wasn’t there any opposition parties to do that? Was he trying to say that the 74 MPs from Opposition Perikatan Nasional have been so useless and dumb that only Syed Saddiq possessed the intelligence to be present in the Parliament?



The real reason MUDA quit at such suspicious time had little to do with the stunning decision by Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to withdraw the corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as Saddiq would like everyone to believe. After all, this is not the first time that Zahid, who is also the Barisan Nasional chairman, had been granted a DNAA.



Zahid was first granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) back on Sept 23, 2022 during the Perikatan Nasional government when Attorney General Idrus Harun (an appointee of ex-PM Muhyiddin Yassin) thrown away 40 corruption charges. The same A.G. has again thrown out the remaining 47 charges faced by Zahid last month – approximately a year later.



UMNO president Zahid, who was facing a whopping 87 corruption charges, is now a free man largely thanks to the attorney general, who decides who to charge and who to free. Instead of attacking A.G. Idrus or former backdoor PM Muhyiddin, Saddiq chose to attack PM Anwar Ibrahim. Exactly why Muda attacked Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional, but not Perikatan Nasional?



In truth, Syed Saddiq cannot attack A.G. Idrus Harun because he was a political appointee of Muhyiddin, who in turn is his best friend. The Muda president, who is still wet between ears, had scrambled to meet with the Bersatu president right after the Nov 2022 General Election. Claiming that he still respects his former boss, Saddiq thought Muhyiddin could form another backdoor government.



More importantly, Saddiq is a “mole” planted by his mentor, the grand strategist Mahathir Mohamad. That’s why Anwar and his party – PKR (People’s Justice Party) – do not trust MUDA. That’s also the reason why MUDA’s application to join Pakatan Harapan was not entertained. From the beginning, the young political party’s mission was to split the votes or to demand seats it can’t win on its own.



The clearest proof was when the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance’s (MUDA) decided to contest in the six state elections in August, which saw all 19 of its candidates lost their deposits. When it was clear that MUDA will not be able to join Pakatan Harapan, and won’t get any ministry in the Unity Government, it was time to leave. The cold shoulder given by Pakatan was to flush out the mole.



Therefore, Zahid’s acquittal was merely a smokescreen for Saddiq to pull out. It was also deliberately timed to deny the Anwar administration of its two-thirds majority (148-seat) in the parliament. By joining the racist bigots and religious extremists in the opposition bloc under the pretext of forming a third force, Muda wanted to be the kingmaker in order to extract concessions.



Mr Saddiq, whose best friends included Indian Muslim hate preacher Zakir Naik, whom was harboured and protected by Mahathir during his second stint as premier, has shamelessly ignored the fact that he was only able to retain the Muar seat because Pakatan Harapan agreed to step aside and support him. If he has the balls, he should quit the parliamentary seat and re-contest.