The undoing of Syed Saddiq and the looming doom of Muda

SHAH ALAM – A cloud of political despair has descended upon Muda after its numero uno, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, was found guilty of multiple corruption charges, with observers believing the verdict has inevitably doomed the youth-centric party.

The dismal and dreary outlook on Muda’s fate said senior fellow of the National Professor Council, Datuk Dr Jeniri Amir was due to the party’s seemingly absolute reliance on Syed Saddiq’s persona to carry it since its formation in September 2020.

Muda, as Jeniri put it, is synonymous with Syed Saddiq.

“With him no longer there, I think it is very difficult for Muda to move forward as a political party.

"In fact, in the previous state elections, even with Syed Saddiq’s presence, all of Muda’s candidates lost their deposit,” Jeniri reasoned.

After declaring the verdict, the KL High Court slapped him a seven-year jail sentence, RM10 million fine and two strokes of the rotan but also granted him a stay of execution, pending appeals.

Although he will not be going to jail any time soon, Jeniri argued that Syed Saddiq will, from now on, face a difficult time to maintain his ‘hero’ persona among the younger generation.

“Once you have been found guilty, that is it. Your image and reputation have been tarnished,” said Jeniri.

Muda’s reputation, too, has been sullied, even more so, argued Dr Abdul Aziz Azizam of Universiti Teknologi Mara, given the party’s vocal stance on corruption and abuse of power.

“He and Muda has spoken extensively about corruption and abuse of power and today, he has been found guilty of charges related to these issues.

“His party is already grappling with issues and now one of their leaders has been convicted of wrongdoing. These further tarnishes Muda’s brand,” said the political analyst.

Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Dr Oh Ei Sun also echoed a similar contention.

He, however, argued that the biggest hurdle for Muda right now was not Syed Saddiq’s conviction but the party’s growing irrelevancy in Malaysian politics.

“It is very important for him and for the party to define what Muda stands for, beyond the younger generation.

"Until a new image is presented, it will be very difficult for the party to amount to anything at the moment,” said Oh.

While Muda has yet to develop a clear succession plan, Professor Datuk Dr Ismail Sualman believed that the party will probably name its deputy president Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz to helm the party.

However, even if such was to be done, there was no guarantee that the youth will throw their support behind Muda, because according to Ismail, the youths have other political alternatives.

“I think most of their follower or supporter will either shift or move to other parties such as Umno, PKR or Pas.

"These parties would be the alternative which I think will change the country’s political landscape,” said Ismail.