The Malaysian Insight

SYED Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman is facing a tough fight to retain his Bersatu youth chief post in the party elections, which kick off on April 11, said sources.

The challenger to the former youth and sports minister are his former aide and youth exco Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal and another exco member Mohd Muzammil Ismail.

Fayhsal stands in a good position to lead the youth wing, which is known as Armada, following his appointment as deputy youth and sports minister in the new Perikatan Nasional government last week.

“Fayhsal had a meeting with the heads of the Armada recently to garner support.

“With his capacity as deputy minister, the support for Syed Saddiq has now shifted to Fayhsal,” a source told The Malaysian Insight.

Fayhsal was sworn on Tuesday after being appointed senator on the same day.

Another party source said support for Syed Saddiq declined after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin dropped him from the new cabinet.

Syed Saddiq is not only losing support from Armada members but also Bersatu leaders.

They said this is because Syed Saddiq is siding with Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad instead of party president Muhyiddin in the recent political turmoil.

“Syed Saddiq is in the group that opposes the president (Muhiyiddin). If division chiefs ask their members to vote against him, then his position will be gone.

“I have already heard that some division leaders have issued such orders,” the source said.

The third contestant, Muzammil, when contacted by The Malaysian Insight, said he was confident of winning.

“Previously, many supported Syed Saddiq because of his position as minister and he got allocations.

“Now that he is no longer in a ministerial position, there are more chances for me to win.

“If Fayhsal competes, then I hope the votes would be split as we are all vying for the same support.”

Fayhsal was previously Syed Saddiq’s special officer. – March 16, 2020.