Malaysians battling loss of jobs, not interested in party ratings - Syed Saddiq

CORONAVIRUS | Malaysians dealing with the loss of jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic have little interest in the ratings of a political party, said Muar member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

Taking to Twitter, the disputed Bersatu Youth chief responded to his former aide Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal's remarks on Perikatan Nasional's perceived popularity ratings among Malaysians.

"Noone cares about (a party) being popular or otherwise," he said.

Syed Saddiq pointed out that more 610,000 jobs were lost, the highest in the nation's history since 1986.

"While hundreds and thousands of people have lost their jobs, someone is buying the support of parliamentarians with GLC (government-linked company) positions, salaries of over RM300,000.

"Just what are you doing?," said Syed Saddiq in reference to the recent controversy surrounding a viral audio clip of a man who sounded like Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin allegedly proposing to offer GLC positions to Umno MPs as a way to secure their support.

Syed Saddiq also shared a news article that quoted Wan Fayhsal as claiming that based on "ratings", the majority of Malaysians - particularly Malays - have accepted Muhyiddin and PN.

However, Wan Fayhsal did not reveal his source for the basis of Muhyiddin's rating, and to date, no formal survey has been conducted on the government's popularity ratings.

Wan Fayshal used to serve as the former youth and sports minister's special officer but has since gone on to challenge Syed Saddiq for the Bersatu Youth chief post.

Meanwhile, PKR treasurer-general Lee Chean Chung has taken a swipe at the appointment of Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar as the new chairperson of Petronas’ subsidiary MISC Bhd, succeeding Ab Halim Mohyiddin.

"Petronas is the majority shareholder for MISC, therefore Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister can influence the appointment.

"However, in the first quarter of this year, MISC has recorded losses of RM1.16 billion, and last year, it recorded a negative cashflow of RM6.8 billion," said the Semambu assemblyperson.

"Will the appointment of Noh Omar as MISC chairperson brings changes in the vision or direction of the organisation?" he asked.

Analysts previously argued that offering parliamentarians positions in the government or government-linked bodies in exchange for their political support may not provide long-term security for Muhyiddin's position as prime minister. - Mkini