At a press conference, the Muar MP said these claims were “not true” and that Muda simply wanted to “champion genuine politics”.
“That’s the problem with old politics. When young people speak up, they say we are answering to old politicians, who bring old politics themselves.
“The reality is that Muda celebrates diversity. We want to see decentralisation of power and a truly multiracial and moderate Malaysia,” he said.
Many netizens have criticised Muda’s move to go solo in the upcoming state elections, claiming that Mahathir was pulling the strings by getting Muda to contest in order to hurt Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) chances at the polls.
A reply to a tweet by Muda on its virtual town hall read “Produced by Atok (in reference to Mahathir) behind the scenes.”
Another netizen replied to a different post by the party by asking “Is ‘Atok’ sponsoring (this)?”
Syed Saddiq was the Bersatu Youth chief when Mahathir co-founded the party in 2016.
After he won the Muar parliamentary seat in the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018, and Pakatan Harapan (PH) formed the new government, Syed Saddiq was named the youth and sports minister by Mahathir who became prime minister for the second time.
However, Syed Saddiq was sacked from Bersatu following the Sheraton Move which resulted in the collapse of the PH administration in March 2020. He went on to establish Muda as the country’s first youth-centric party.
Syed Saddiq also questioned claims that Muda would be working with sacked Umno members in the state polls.
“I (only) read it in the news today when someone sent it to me. I definitely want to know where this (information) is from,” he said.
Earlier today, a PH insider who asked to remain anonymous told FMT that Muda will be “going along with Umno members who have been suspended or sacked.”
The source said Muda’s intention was to split the votes, especially in Selangor, where Muda has a better following compared with the other five states going to the polls.
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