The widely expected decision was announced tonight at a Pakatan Harapan (PH) ceramah attended by PPBM big guns, including chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad and president Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Muar is Syed Saddiq,” said Mahathir at the end of his speech, where he also announced Amanah candidates for the three state seats under Muar.
They include Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub who will stand in Simpang Jeram, Norhayati Bachok in Maharani and Faizul Amri in Terom.
Syed Saddiq, who turns 26 in December, is known for his debating skills, having thrice won the Best Speaker Award at the Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championship.
The International Islamic University graduate came out criticising Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration in the wake of allegations that billions of dollars were siphoned off from 1MDB.
Syed Saddiq is among the founding members of PPBM. The party is prohibited from using its Bunga Raya logo at the next polls, following a one-month suspension by the Registrar of Societies just a day before Najib announced Parliament’s dissolution. Syed Saddiq will now stand under the PKR banner, as agreed by the PH leadership.
In the last elections, Johor Umno Youth chief Razali Ibrahim, who is also a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, defeated PKR’s Nor Hizwan Ahmad. His 1,646-votes majority is only a third of the majority he got in the 2008 polls.
Earlier at the event today, Mahathir urged people to vote for “the eye”, a reference to PKR’s oval-shaped logo.
“We can save Malaysia if we vote for Keadilan,” he said in a speech attacking Najib.