Backlash will be worse following Zahid’s discharge, says Syed Saddiq

 

Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the ‘wave of dissatisfaction’ will get worse in view of the court’s decision.

PETALING JAYA: The backlash against the discharge granted to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his corruption case will be more severe at the next elections, Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said.

Syed Saddiq said some were of the opinion that the people would just forget the matter, despite what he called the “whitewashing by the reformists and ‘good guys'” on the matter.

“But I can tell you that my middle-class, super smart Malay friends are ‘pissed’.

“They are ‘super pissed’ and the numbers show. The more you do this, the more you will lose support,” he said on BFM’s The Breakfast Grille this morning.

The Muar MP was responding to arguments against his party’s decision to withdraw support for the unity government over Zahid’s case, saying that Muda should not “rock the boat”.

Muda’s exit leaves the ruling coalition with 147 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, one short of a two-thirds majority.

Others also argued that the focus should be countering the “green wave”, in reference to the gains made by the opposition in the last general election and recent six state polls, Syed Saddiq said.

“I don’t think it is the ‘green wave’, it is more of a wave of dissatisfaction and anti-corruption, which will be made much worse after this in view of the court’s decision.”

Earlier this month, Zahid was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on all 47 of his corruption, criminal breach of trust (CBT), and money laundering charges.

He had been accused of embezzling millions of ringgit from his foundation, Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister between 2013 and 2018. - FMT