Syed Saddiq: I Would Rather Lose All My Positions Than My Moral Conscience
He recently lost his job as a Cabinet minister.
By Sadho Ram — 07 Mar 2020, 05:19 PM
Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman, who made history as the youngest ever Federal minister after he was appointed as the Minister of Youth and Sports in 2018, is a figure who is both loved and hated
The Muar MP recently lost his job as a Cabinet minister after his party Bersatu formed an alliance with scandal-ridden UMNO to overthrow the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition and formed a new government
Bersatu left Pakatan Harapan under its president Muhyiddin Yassin, who took the party to form Perikatan Nasional with Barisan Nasional component parties, PAS, and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
It has caused a divide in Bersatu, with the majority of its members supporting the president, who was sworn in as the eighth Prime Minister by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong last Sunday, 1 March.
In case you are clueless about the political events that unfolded since 23 February, which saw Dr Mahathir stepping out and Muhyiddin stepping in, watch our simple explainer here.
So what's next for the 27-year-old?
Syed Saddiq remains in the party as the Chief of Armada, the youth wing of Bersatu.
The Bersatu Youth Chief position, however, will be challenged at the upcoming party polls.
He has vowed to keep fighting against corruption and abuse of power while reiterating his stand against backing party president Muhyiddin to succeed Dr Mahathir as the Prime Minister.
The former minister, who was on Al Jazeera's programme called UpFront to talk to its host Mehdi Hasan yesterday, 6 March, shared his views about the current political turmoil.
According to him, the formation of an "illegitimate back-door government" to overthrow the democratically elected Pakatan Harapan government is a "truly sad day for Malaysian democracy".
Earlier today, 7 March, Syed Saddiq took to his Twitter to part ways with his former special officer Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, who has chosen to support Muhyiddin as the Prime Minister
In his Tweet, Syed Saddiq wished Wan Fayhsal "all the best", while adding that, unfortunately, he won't be joining him as he would "rather lose all my positions than my moral conscience".
The Muar MP's statement about his moral conscience comes after his former special officer switched sides and backtracked on his stand to "not surrender the rakyat's mandate to the kleptocrats".
Wan Fayhsal, on 29 February, had tweeted his support for Dr Mahathir and Syed Saddiq.
A check by SAYS found that the geopolitics and human governance expert, who is contesting to be Bersatu's Titiwangsa division chief, has since deleted the tweet.
