A DAP leader has slammed Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman for claiming that the party has become a “lapdog” of UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, describing the Muda president’s remarks as “going overboard”.
According to an FMT report, DAP central executive committee member Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali said Syed Saddiq seemed to have forgotten the loyalty and support DAP had shown to him and other Muda candidates in the 15th general election (GE15) in November 2022 as well as in the Johor state election in March the same year.
“Although (DAP’s help) may not necessarily be the main factor, Syed Saddiq should be reminded of the significant efforts by DAP, which led to Muda clinching single seats in Johor at both state and parliamentary levels,” he added.
In GE15, Syed Saddiq successfully defended the Muar parliamentary seat while in the state polls, Muda secretary-general Amira Aisya Abd Aziz won the Puteri Wangsa state seat.
Yesterday (Sept 7), DAP vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming suggested that Syed Saddiq should refrain from airing his discontent over Zahid being granted a conditional discharge from his graft charges publicly and could have “discussed” the matter internally as part of the government.
Nga said that a face-to-face discussion would be more professional than making public statements to the media regarding developments in the case involving the Umno president.
The local government development minister was responding to Muda’s warning that it might reconsider its position in the unity government following Zahid’s discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) given by the High Court in his corruption case.
Recall that on Monday (Sept 4), Zahid, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, was discharged from 47 charges of dishonestly misappropriating RM31 mil from his foundation, Yayasan Akalbudi, and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister between 2013 and 2018.
The DNAA was condemned by many political observers and civil society groups. UMNO’s current allies, including DAP, have demanded that the attorney-general (AG) explain the prosecution’s move to discontinue the trial.
Following this, Syed Saddiq and Muda secretary-general Amir Hadi have said they would not hesitate to withdraw their party’s support for the unity government if the AG did not give a proper explanation.
In response to Nga, Syed Saddiq doubled down and said he agreed with former UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin who accused DAP of now becoming a “lapdog” that allows abuse of power.
Syed Saddiq also called out Nga in his tweet by sharing several posts made by the latter in the past, in which he had accused Zahid of corruption.
To this, Sheikh Umar said such attacks are to be expected of Khairy, whom he calls an “outsider”, but it is unacceptable coming from Syed Saddiq.
However, it seems that not all Muda members share Syed Saddiq’s sentiment, with Sabah Muda chairman Amos Thien taking to social media to disagree with the “lapdog” label, adding that it was unfair to label DAP as such as every party had bad apples.
“Sorry president, I have to disagree with name-calling. I personally know some DAP leaders especially in Sabah and they are good leaders,” Thien said on X yesterday (Sept 7).
“Every party has their bad apples with extreme views, including Muda, and we are working on it. But to lump up DAP as a lapdog is just wrong in my book.” – Sept 8, 2023
Main pic credit: Roketkini
