Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman reiterated that his decision to step down as Muda president after a graft conviction last year was based on his principles as he wanted to devote time to prove his innocence in court.
In an interview with Mingguan Malaysia, he took a jab at other politicians he claimed had sacrificed their principles to escape prosecution.
“When I was ‘dragged’ to court and I fought the case, never once did I demand for the case to be dropped, unlike other politicians.
“I don’t subscribe to ‘kiss hand’ politics that eventually led to dropped charges. I continued to fight for justice and the truth in court,” he said.
“However, for the country to progress, I must be ‘whiter than white’ and so I need to step back (from Muda) and let other leaders take over,” said the former minister who founded Muda in February 2020 after departing from Bersatu.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov 9 last year found him guilty of four charges involving criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property, and money laundering linked to RM1.12 million of Bersatu Youth funds.
Syed Saddiq was sentenced to seven years in jail, two strokes of the rotan, and slapped with an RM10 million fine, but judge Azhar Abdul Hamid allowed the defence’s application to stay the execution of all the sentences pending the MP’s appeal to the Court of Appeal.
On the same day, Syed Saddiq announced his resignation as Muda’s president and that the party’s deputy president Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz would be Muda’s acting president.
Meanwhile, he also denied that he is now less active in public spaces, pointing out his full attendance in Parliament and participation in Dewan Rakyat debates.
“Just that now I am no longer Muda president, whereby previously I shouldered a heavy responsibility to steer a new political party.
“Now I am an ordinary member and a Malaysian who respects the country’s legal process. I can’t only love my country when it benefits me,” he said in the interview.
Two months before his conviction, Syed Saddiq withdrew Muda’s support for the government bench in the Dewan Rakyat, at the time citing objections to the Attorney-General’s Chambers withdrawing 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said he sleeps better at night these days despite being “alone” in the Dewan Rakyat, with the belief that he did not sacrifice his principles. - Mkini
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