Muda exodus: Leaving party a democratic process – Amir Hariri
Leaving Muda is not an unusual matter as many members of other larger political parties have also done so for various reasons.
SHAH ALAM - The exodus of some members and leaders from the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) is regarded as a democratic process and a common occurrence in the country's political arena.
Muda's Secretary-General Amir Hariri Abd Hadi believed that every individual had the democratic right or personal choice, whether to continue staying with Muda or to leave and join any other political party.
He said leaving Muda was not an unusual matter as many members of other larger political parties have also done so for various reasons.
Therefore, he said Muda considered such actions as one of the efforts to cleanse the membership list of those who were not loyal to the party's objectives.
"So, for me, leaving the party is a common matter and it is up to individuals to join or leave Muda.
"At the same time, we will continue with the rejuvenation program to rebuild Muda's strength after we lost all seats contested in the 15th General Election (GE15) recently," he said when contacted by Sinar Premium.
He said this in response to the actions of Muda leaders, including its Selangor Chairman Al Hafiz Ikhwan Mohamad Asaad; Kapar Treasurer Vipraharan Balan; Kapar Deputy Chairman Thinesh Raj Parantaman; Pandan Chairman Abang Aliefiesyahreen and Kedah Deputy Chairman Amer Abdullah who resigned for various reasons such as dissatisfaction with the party leadership's decisions.
Amir, however, denied claims that most leaders left Muda due to dissatisfaction with various decisions made by the party's top leadership, especially Muda's Acting President Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz.
For the record, Amira Aisya assumed the role after Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who resigned as Muda President following the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision on Nov 9, 2023.
The court found the former Youth and Sports Minister guilty of four charges, including criminal breach of trust, misuse of funds, and money laundering of the Armada Youth Movement's funds.
Commenting further, Amir said that Syed Saddiq is not Muda, and vice versa.
"Syed Saddiq is just one of the former leaders of Muda, which is why we want to move away from the 'feudal' politics that only focuses on certain individuals considered popular and so on.
"That is why we have discussed various plans to rejuvenate the party to rebuild Muda.
"This action is necessary after facing the experience of losing in 15 and several previous by-elections," he said.
Meanwhile, he confirmed that Muda currently had no plans to collaborate with any party coalition, either Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the near future.
"There have been no discussions regarding Muda's cooperation with PH or PN because for now, we are only focusing on internal development and the party elections scheduled to be held by the end of this year," he said.
