KUALA LUMPUR: Even at the most sought-after diplomatic reception in Kuala Lumpur this year, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman proved to be a hit. He arrived late, after the official toasts, and was immediately swarmed by well-wishers a few feet into the ballroom.
The dashing former Malaysian minister of youth and sports – the youngest minister since Malaysia’s independence – was endowed with good memory, among many other seemingly positive characteristics.
I approached Syed Saddiq when the crowd surrounding him dissipated after half an hour. He wore his trademark smile and greeted me, recalling a mutual introduction by a senior politician over a year ago, before I could utter a single word.
When I confessed that I had been overly harsh on Syed Saddiq and the fledgling Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) in previous commentaries, he took it in stride and said it was a good learning experience for himself and his party.
It was perhaps this perennial optimism that launched Syed Saddiq into the turbulent stratosphere of Malaysian politics – until his recent fall. On Thursday (Nov 9), Syed Saddiq was found guilty of corruption, and sentenced to seven years’ jail, two strokes of the cane, and fined RM10 million (US$2.1 million). He has vowed to appeal the ruling and clear his name.
ONCE A RISING STAR
A champion university debater, Syed Saddiq jumped into politics not long after graduation. At the age of 23 in 2016, he became a founding member and youth wing leader of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), a Malay-centric party led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin after they fell out with then prime minister Najib Razak.
When hitherto opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) came to power with Dr Mahathir at its helm in 2018, Syed Saddiq was made a cabinet member despite his relative lack of political experience. His main ministerial achievement was the lowering of the Malaysian voting age from 21 to 18.
In early 2020, in what came to be called the Sheraton Move, Mr Muhyiddin suddenly and apparently without Dr Mahathir’s concurrence pulled the bulk of Bersatu out of PH, and formed a new ruling coalition with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), with Mr Muhyiddin clinching the premiership.
Afterwards, it came as a surprise to many when Syed Saddiq, long considered a protege of Dr Mahathir, decided to form his own party, MUDA, with a youthful and multiracial setup as its main appeal.
In its initial euphoric stage, MUDA attracted a number of mostly urban professionals from across Malaysia’s solidifying racial lines to fill its ranks.
But without clear political direction and adequate organisational capacity, the party has floundered at polling stations. MUDA managed to win a single seat in the Johor state election in March 2022, but fared badly in all other elections since – federal and state.
To make matters worse, Syed Saddiq was slapped with criminal charges related to corruption and money laundering in 2021 and 2022, muddying the clean-cut image that he branded himself and his party with.
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DIVIDED PUBLIC REACTION
When the news of Syed Saddiq’s conviction hit early last week, the public reaction was bifurcated.
In the eyes of his ardent supporters, Syed Saddiq can do no wrong. They might see his conviction as politically motivated, as he previously refused to join the Sheraton Move and has become a fierce critic of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government.
In September, MUDA left Mr Anwar’s coalition, as it was concerned the government was “normalising the culture of corruption” by dropping graft charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
To his detractors, however, Syed Saddiq is an embarrassment to the reformist cause not only due to his recent conviction, but because MUDA is viewed as a vote spoiler in elections.
Syed Saddiq duly resigned from MUDA presidency after his conviction, but the party has for some time been in political limbo. Prior to the Aug 12 state elections, MUDA’s efforts to form a coalition with PH were futile, and it ran for the elections solo. It lost in all 19 seats it contested, and most candidates did not secure enough votes to reclaim their electoral deposits.
Indeed, MUDA touts youthful, progressive freshness as its selling point. But it is preaching to a shrinking well-educated, urban voter audience that has been divvied up by several PH component parties, leaving little room for MUDA.
Ironically, it was precisely Syed Saddiq’s lowering of voting age to 18 that ushered in an expanded cohort of young but conservative, often religiously driven voters who prefer PAS’ theocratic appeal, crowding out their progressive counterparts who are anyway captured by PH and not MUDA.
Syed Saddiq’s immediate political prospects look bleak, as he would be preoccupied with fighting his criminal appeals over the next few years, which could see him in jail if exhausted.
But Syed Saddiq has youth on his side, and in the context of Malaysia’s fragmented political landscape, a future comeback must not be ruled out.
A few observers have depicted Syed Saddiq’s conviction as a milestone for the government’s anti-corruption drive. But more accurately, it is testament to Malaysia’s emboldened judicial independence. Recent months have seen a number of senior politicians alternately been acquitted or made to answer charges, apparently on the merits of their cases.
Moving forward, Malaysia’s politics is likely to remain unstable, as elite struggles intertwine with demographic shifts.
Oh Ei Sun is a senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
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