KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has urged that Muar MP Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman’s charges of criminal breach of trust should go through the court in a professional manner.
In a Facebook post today, Anwar said that the time and place of when Saddiq was charged is baffling, and is a sign of the extent of which the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is abusing its powers.
“I also want to tell the PN leaders, including the prime minister, to stop this abuse of power and accept the fact with dignity that support for them is declining in Parliament,” he wrote, referring to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Each time a Parliamentary sitting approaches, the government will use or manipulate whatever apparatus it has to bully MPs, maybe out of fear that a vote of no-confidence is held.
“These ugly efforts will relentlessly continue as long as they remain weak and do not have a sufficient majority in Parliament,” he added.
Anwar said that the charges against Syed Saddiq showed that enforcement bodies and departments are following the tune of politicians, which spells bad news for the country, including the loss of international investor confidence.
“I have also been informed by some MPs that the government also uses bribery and intimidation to hold up their failed government with positions and protection from prosecution as a reward,” he said.
“When politicians or individuals close to the corridors of power can go free without punishment while opposition leaders and their supporters are prosecuted with all kinds of chosen charges, it is revealed that the law enforcement aspect in the country is damaged,” he added.
Syed Saddiq, a former youth and sports minister, was charged at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning with criminal breach of trust involving RM1 million belonging to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia — which he allegedly withdrew from a bank in March 2020.
Syed Saddiq was additionally hit with a second charge of misappropriating RM120,000 from the party’s election coffers in 2018.
He pleaded not guilty to both charges.
