The Malaysian Insight

KNOWN for his use of jargon, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal admits that he is an easy target on social media, so much so that even former prime minister Najib Razak has fired salvos at him.

The deputy youth and sports minister first courted controversy when he initially supported Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the “Sheraton move”, but flipped over to the Muhyiddin Yassin camp a week later.

Recently, Wan Fayhsal was slammed by social media users for ditching former Bersatu youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, going on to become deputy minister in the Muhyiddin administration.

Wan Fayhsal is constantly admonished on Twitter over his use of jargon, which has become ammunition for trolls.

He, however, said he was unfazed by the attacks, even from Najib, as he feels they are a distraction from delivering his duties as a deputy minister in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

“I respect Najib as the former prime minister. My approach is not to engage him. I also take this as friendly fire – a distraction to us.

“As Bersatu youth chief, I am an easy target for PN critics whether inside or outside the government,” Wan Fayhsal told The Malaysian Insight.

Najib has been critical of PN’s mistreatment of Umno, claiming the party’s marginalisation in many areas. The former Umno president is targeting Wan Fayhsal in particular for his recent statements supporting Bersatu.

Wan Fayhsal shot back, saying Najib deserved to be charged over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

“In Bersatu, we have never supported or acknowledged 1MDB. We have never issued any statement in support of anything. In fact, we were relieved the court verdict was announced,” he said.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court found Najib guilty on July 29 of all seven charges – three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power – for receiving RM42 million into his personal accounts.

The Pekan MP was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million. Failure to pay the fine will add on another five years of jail time.

Wan Fayhsal said Najib’s case will be a sobering reminder to politicians.

“We (PN government) are focused on serving the people and this (1MDB) nightmare would be a lesson to all Malay politicians on how dangerous it would be if there is no accountability,” he said.

Wan Fayhsal, however, said working with Umno in PN is no problem as the parties are now focused on serving the people amid the Covid-19 pandemic and not harp on past scandals.

“The view – guilt by association – is not applicable as all parties do not have an upper hand on each other. This is a cooperation that is accepted and we help each other on good policies.

“Instead of bringing up old scandals, we focus on what is best for the people,” he said.

The 38-year old said he will not be deterred by the numerous blowbacks he has received over his use of jargon.

“We as politicians have to prove in our actions, we are truly focused on serving the people. I do not pay so much heed to the criticism and instead focus on my work.” – November 8, 2020.