Syed Saddiq incident - 8 new people to be arrested

It seems that for one certain party in Pakatan’s coalition, they are above recourse. Underperforming ministers? Blame the “deep state”. Election failures? Blame the coalition for not helping enough. What about building a new vision for the Malays? Just blame DAP.

In the case of Syed Saddiq, he blames everyone but himself. It was recently reported that there were 4 individuals arrested for organizing the black shirt rally against Syed Saddiq earlier this month in Johor. According to some police sources, an additional 8 are set to be arrested or being prepared to be arrested.

The highly public Johor incident incident was massively condemned by the PH leadership, with statements made by all circles within the coalition including one from the Prime Ministers Office. Interestingly, these same leaders tried to distance themselves when some elements in PKR held similar protests in front of the PKR Headquarters recently.

Where was the scrutiny there? Particularly when Syed Saddiq himself made the tactical decision to retreat over a fence in the end. Isn’t PKR far more important considering that it is home to the 2^nd most MPs in the coalition and is led by the Prime Minister designate Anwar Ibrahim?

Perhaps it was the purported “UMNO” factor that the minister mentioned in his own social media posts? After all they must seem the most logical target that is against our youth minister.

Contrary to what Syed Saddiq may tell you, they are not from UMNO or otherwise – but rather are from ARMADA or Bersatu itself, specifically members who are frustrated and understandably angry over the on-going political games that certain quarters of the party are playing in Johor.

In Johor, it is an open secret that some elements of Bersatu led by characters such as Mazlan Bujang have constantly been working to place themselves in positions of power, despite them being the reason that the previous MB, Osman Sapian was placed in his position in the first place.

Their constant target? The Johor Royal family – most probably seeing them as an easy target given Mahathir’s earlier machinations in his first term during 1983 and 1993. It seems again that the royal family will once again be targeted and blamed for Mahathir’s and his party’s own failings.

Instead of placing blame on his own leadership issues, Syed Saddiq took great care to characterize the rally as “UMNO-led” and ignored the evidence that was in-front of him. He publicly played the victim card, emphasizing that he, the paragon of “youth power”, was driven out by the remnants of “Malaysia Lama”.

Didn’t he promise to fight these same elements head-on? Or is this a just another case of him breaking his promises like the abolishment of PTPTN or the one he brokered with the 400,000 Malaysians working in Singapore.

The question remains what will happen to the 8 targeted individuals linked in the blackshirt rally? No doubt they will be used as scapegoats in the ongoing consolidation of power that Mahathir is playing through Syed Saddiq and Bersatu. The story will be simple: This rally was clearly organized by elements linked to the opposition, including the Johor Royal Family. This is a conspiracy that will attempt to link the Johor Royal family to a young incompetent minister who chose to post for a photo on top of the fence hoping the public will sympathise with him.

The opposition and the Johor Royal family will be dragged through the mud, brought to court and publicly paraded to suit the agendas of certain unscrupulous individuals – who want to mislead the rakyat. The truth is secondary here, the only things that matter is that public perception is channel to suit their needs.

Saddiq needs to be honest. His colleagues simply don’t think that he’s a leader. They made that loud and clear after the defeat in Tanjung Piai – where various Bersatu leaders called him out on a lack of leadership and inability to unite the various elements of Pakatan Youth.

Unfortunately, Syed Saddiq is clearly playing with public sentiment to force the government to take harsh action on what has unfortunately been a routine event in Pakatan Harapan. For some, this is a harsh reminder of how a Mahathir-led government can act especially for those who lived in the darker days of his administration. For Syed Saddiq, it is simply another practical application of lessons learnt from his “Cikgu Mahathir”.

What Saddiq fails to understand is that while Malaysians are patient, post GE14 has clearly proven that the rakyat has no time for these games. In Semenyih and Tanjung Piai, they did not see Syed Saddiq and Bersatu as a party worth their time. They certainly can see through the wayang that is currently going in Bersatu.

Syed Saddiq should take his role in government more seriously and just as the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim has mentioned repeatedly, serve the interests of the people.

Everyday Malaysians are suffering, what more with the rising cost of goods, fewer jobs, stagnant salaries and lack of employment for the youth. These are the real problems that the country faces. To ignore this in to pursue dramatic overtures and political games, is a deep betrayal of the people’s trust.