Has MUDA betrayed members by keeping mum on Daim’s court case since wife Na’imah is a party member?

MUDA which walked out from the unity government coalition to be a “third force” last September may owe its members and supporters an explanation as to why it has chosen to lie low from commenting on former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin’s failure to disclose assets under anti-corruption law.

This comes about after the party’s Federal Territories’ information chief Manjit Singh admitted that he has “just found out” that the octogenarian’s wife Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid is a MUDA member.

“I give up man. White flag 🏳️. Honestly, I myself just found out Daim wife is a MUDA member,” he tweeted.

The revelation came about after numerous MUDA members started engaging to probe if there was any truth in the matter.

This is when MUDA Segambut communications head Sheryl Ho Su Lynn confirmed that the 66-year-old Na’imah (Daim has re-married after his wife Maahni Idris passed away on Jan 22 last year) is indeed a MUDA member.

“Naimah is a MUDA member that has helped the party a lot and I will extend to her the respect that she deserves as any other MUDA member if they’re investigated by the authority”.

Screenshot courtesy of The Coverage

“The most important thing is that although I went as a friend, how did that affect the case? Did I ask the DPP (deputy public prosecutor) to drop her case? Did I ask the judge to absolve her?”

For the record, Na’imah was charged on Jan 23 with failing to declare her assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). She pleaded not guilty to the charge made under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act.

Na’imah was accused of having on Dec 13 last year at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya, willfully given a written statement on oath that did not comply with the terms of a MACC notice dated Nov 8 the same year that was served on her on Nov 14.

Barely a week later on Jan 29, a wheelchair-bound Daim, 85, also pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose 71 of his assets to the anti-graft agency under the same Section 36(2) of the MACC Act which carries a maximum five years’ imprisonment and RM100,000 fine upon conviction.

Following the brouhaha over MUDA’s failure to be transparent on the matter, student activist Yap Xiang has posed two pertinent questions which should be best addressed by its president and Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman:

“Since @ManjitSinghG5 has confirmed that this message is authentic, I have a few questions to be directed @partimuda,” penned the Mahasiswa Keadilan Malaysia (MKM) vice-president on X (formerly Twitter).

“(i) Are Daim and Naimah MUDA funders; and (ii) Is it because Na’imah is a (party) member that MUDA didn’t dare to issue a statement about the prosecution of Daim and Na’imah?” – Feb 9, 2024

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