The Malaysian Insight

UNFAZED by the loss of Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who was once a main player in Bersatu, Pejuang has found a replacement for him in Dr Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin, an International Islamic University of Malaysia lecturer, who is the party’s new youth chief, Marzuki Yahya said.

Marzuki, the deputy president of Pejuang, was once in Bersatu with Syed Saddiq until they split ways after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan coalition last year.

While Marzuki is now in Pejuang, Syed Saddiq went on to form his own youth movement called Muda.

“Leaders come and leaders go. And while Syed Saddiq is no longer with us, our focus remains on attracting young voters,” Marzuki told The Malaysian Insight.

“As such, we will groom Abu Hafiz as our youth chief,” said the former deputy minister for foreign affairs.

Marzuki, who was one of the founders of Bersatu before he was sacked last year, said one of the reasons why Bersatu was able to break the Barisan Nasional dominance in the 2018 elections was due to the presence of strong icons such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Syed Saddiq.

With the two-pronged approach, Dr Mahathir and Syed Saddiq were able to convince older and younger Malay voters to shift their vote away from Umno for Pakatan Harapan to win 113 seats out of the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat during the 14th general election.

While Dr Mahathir is still with Pejuang, Marzuki is confident that Abu Hafiz can fill in the gap left by Syed Saddiq.

When asked to compare the two, Marzuki said both had their strengths.

“There is little difference between the two, other than their outward appearances.

“Syed Saddiq may be handsome but so is Abu Hafiz,” said Marzuki.

The other difference, said Marzuki, is that Syed Saddiq preferred a more multiracial approach while Abu Hafiz is focused on the Malay struggle.

“Both are Malay with slightly different ideologies but what matters is their principles,” said the 51-year-old senator.

However, the door is not closed to Syed Saddiq or Dr Maszlee Malik to join Pejuang.

“Pejuang is open to both as we have no issues with them. The door is always open. It’s just that we haven’t reached out to them,” said Marzuki.

Syed Saddiq and Maszlee were among the six Bersatu MPs who were sacked when they refused to support Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister after Muhyiddin caused the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020.

While Syed Saddiq moved on to establish his own youth-based party, Maszlee opted to become an independent MP.

Marzuki was giving his first interview after the Registrar of Societies approved Pejuang’s application last week.

The approval was given on the last day of a 14-day deadline given by the Kuala Lumpur High Court for the Home Ministry to decide on Pejuang’s application.

According to Marzuki, Pejuang has already received some 20,000 membership applications.

“Although we haven’t analysed the membership roll yet, the majority of the applications are from former Bersatu members and a small group of Umno members,” he said.

Dr Mahathir decided to form Pejuang after he was sacked from Bersatu. The party contested in its first by-election in Slim River last year and was trounced by Umno. – July 17, 2021.