YOURSAY | This is the power of one

YOURSAY | ‘Syed Saddiq, enjoy your status as an independent MP while it lasts.’

Syed Saddiq quits govt bench – sources

Methink: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Muda, you should just leave the unity government and be independent. Being an independent MP and party can serve the nation better and be the third voice of the people.  

As an independent MP, you will not be restricted by the dictates or whims of any of the coalition or opposition parties.

You do not have to toe the line as ordered by any party whip or party leader.  

For the passing of bills in our August house, especially those requiring a two-thirds majority, you will be courted and cajoled by the coalition government.

This is the opportunity for a third voice not bound to strict party policies or agenda to tweak and amend the bill for the benefit and wellbeing of the people as a whole.  

If you think the bill is weak or stringent, one-sided, draconian, and does not bode well for the nation and people, then you can vote against or abstain from voting.

This is the power of one, one independent vote and as vox populi.  

Any bill brought up by the opposition which you and your party believe brings benefits, fairness, justice, and advantages to the people, you have the independence to vote for them. Such is the power of practising non-partisan politics in a democracy.  

As an independent MP, you may not always be asked to sit at the table but even now, as part of the coalition, this is already happening.

But when you do sit at the table as an independent, you will not be constrained by any dogma of any party except your conscience and the principles of your party.  

You can amplify the concerns, right the wrongs, and make it more relevant, clearer, and fairer to the great unwashed during the passage of any bills without fear of being reprimanded or disciplined.

Muda has, in the last state election, come out on their own and let everyone know they will be the third voice of the people.

They have stated they will be at the forefront and speak up on issues more pertinent and urgent for the man or woman on the street.  

Syed Saddiq and Muda, you have once again stated your intention to withdraw support from the coalition.

Your crying wolf was again ignored and treated like a tantrum or tirade by many.

You have been sidelined so many times, like your poor cousins, despite your many appeals to be included and treated as an equal.  

While you claimed to be a signatory, although a late one, of the coalition government’s memorandum of understanding (MOU), you know you are not really in the inner circle of movers and shakers.

Whilst you have this fear of missing out on the big decisions, the rest of the coalition has no qualms about leaving you and Muda out.  

Logically, the coalition cannot expel you as an MP under Clause 4 of the MOU because you head Muda, and you will be expelled yourself if you disobey and leave the coalition.  

It is time to fly the coop. It is time to stop hiding behind the apron strings of the coalition. It is time to cross the Rubicon or fade away and be irrelevant and be the likes of the minority parties in BN.  

Step out onto the plate and bat for the people you claimed to speak for on issues relevant and dear to them, ensure justice is meted out without fear or favour, controversial issues like the littoral combat ships scandal accounted for, and good, fair, and honest governance is present at all times.

Vijay47: Good job, Syed Saddiq. You said you would do it and you have done it. That’s the man of principle.

Not many would take such a bold, severing stand, but then, not many would want to step off the Gravy Train to Damnation.

Despite DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke’s reminder that Pakatan Harapan helped you win your Muar seat, it does not mean that you are indebted to them for life, especially in the face of their betrayal of almost every election promise they made.

Sure, seven months may be too brief to build Rome but at least some bricks could have been laid.

Worse, Harapan enforced the very laws they had previously protested as unjust and inhumane.

Yes, for the moment, Muda is indeed a one-MP party but that does not give Harapan and Mr Madani any call to treat your party so shabbily – they did not even bother to reply to your application to join the coalition.

Don’t budge, Syed Saddiq, let them come crawling to you when the going gets tough and every vote counts.

You can hold your head high, you have only crossed the aisle, not conjugated with the demons.  

The only stain on your record is your previous fraternising with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad of all people, and unbelievably, inviting Muslim preacher Zakir Naik for dinner.

But what the heck? Sometimes, like Celine Dion lamented, the heart must go on.

Apanama is back: Good move Syed Saddiq and Muda. As I mentioned much earlier, Malaysia is in dire need of a third force.

Muda, PSM, and any other party should combine and work out and attract the voters for the next four years.

By that time, voters will know the true colour of both Harapan-BN and Perikatan Nasional.  Your chances of winning should be better by then.

If you do not do it and just keep on talking now, it will be game over for you and Muda. By now you should know who Harapan-BN is and who PN is. Good luck.

Pity: A person's character is seen by how he treats those who have helped him.

Bitting the hand of those who helped him earlier, calling them lapdogs, and hypocrites, is not a man of principles, more like an ingrate.  

If, as some said, he is a man of principles, then he should vacate his MP seat and contest on his own.

Anonymous 1092837465: His immaturity of thought is showing through.

He doesn’t seem to be able to differentiate between principles and the nation’s well-being.

While we agree with him that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should not have been accorded a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA), Syed Saddiq refuses to see the picture of how his actions can ruin the country’s progress.

A more sincere move would be for him to be a backbencher in the government to check and balance. If he doesn’t agree to Zahid’s DNAA, he can still raise the matter as a government backbencher.

This will keep the government on its toes because the matter raised can become ammunition for the opposition.

What he’s doing looks more like blackmailing the government, not better than what Zahid is accused of doing. It’s simply a case of a pot calling the kettle black.

BlueFish0451: Muda’s exit is precisely proof that Harapan has no choice but to bend to the other component parties in the coalition.

The rakyat did not give Harapan the majority to rule and made it dependent on other parties, including this one-seat Muda.

Harapan is having a hard time reforming the country and keeping its promises. It is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. 

Do not reform at the expense of “rakyat’s anger”, reform at the expense of the government falling apart and into the hands of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and Mahathir.

IndigoToucan1627: Syed Saddiq, enjoy your status as an independent MP while it lasts.

At the next general election, you will no longer be an MP without the support of Harapan.

Unless you can make a name for yourself over the next four years such that you can stand on your own.

Otherwise, you will face the same fate as the Muda candidates in the recently concluded six-state election.

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