MUDA will continue its check and balance on the government – despite charges brought against its founder Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman – information chief Zaidel Baharuddin said.

“The current state of the nation is too ridiculous and if they think that these charges are going to make us be quiet, not organise, or call out the various wrongdoings of the government, they are sorely mistaken.

“As far as we are concerned, the fight goes on, we are not backing down any time soon. We trust the courts more than we trust the government,” Zaidel told The Malaysian Insight, after Syed Saddiq faced corruption charges in court this morning.

The former youth and sports minister pled not guilty to two charges related to the misappropriation of Bersatu funds at Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning.

The first charge was for misappropriating RM1 million belonging to Bersatu last year, while the second was for misappropriating RM120,000 of election funds belonging to the party’s youth wing in April 2018.

On Twitter last night, when news of the impending charges broke, the Muar MP said he would rather go to court than join Perikatan. He also called the charges political in nature.

Today, Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir said the young MP was not out to make money as a lawmaker.

“There are some people who join politics to enrich themselves, Syed Saddiq isn’t one of them. There are those who come in clean but once in power start to put their hands in the till. SS isn’t one of them. Period!” Mukhriz said on Twitter.

Zaidel today said Muda members are not surprised that the government had targeted Syed Saddiq.

“Initial feelings are that we are not surprised, with the way this current government is handling itself.”

Zaidel declined to comment on whether Syed Saddiq has received threats from third parties.

“Let’s wait for the court case to go on, because I can’t precede what is going to the investigation. I think Syed Saddiq will tell his side of the story in court.”

He said the party focus now is on its registration status, which will be heard in court in August.

“We are more concerned with organising, honestly. We need to fight.

“We need to focus on our registration, the Undi18 vote and the Parliament sitting that is coming up, to ensure the prime minister does not have carte blanche to do whatever he wants. These three are more concerning to us.”

Zaidel said Muda currently has 45,000 members and the party is still actively recruiting. – July 22, 2021.