Syed Saddiq Welcomes Dr Mahathir’s Criticism of Proposed Youth Party

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Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman acknowledged today his former mentor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s disagreement with the former’s plan to form a youth-oriented party.

After the ex-prime minister said the venture was unlikely to succeed, the former youth and sports minister said it would not dissuade him.

“Thank you, Tun. We accept the criticism with an open heart. This is a party led by youths for all Malaysians,” Syed Saddiq said on Twitter.

Yusof Mat Isa

“The majority of its leaders will comprise technocrats, professionals, entrepreneurs, modern farmers, civil society leaders and many more.

“We may be young, but we love Malaysia.”

Earlier today during a news conference at Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya, Dr Mahathir, who recently founded a new party dubbed Pejuang, said that while youths made up a large part of the population, they were not a major voting bloc in any constituency.

He said a political party must appeal to voters of all ages to succeed.

Dr Mahathir said the youth party will find it hard to win votes from the older generation, adding that his party, Pejuang, will end up the kingmaker in an election.

“I do not know why he wants to form a party. I don’t think it will be a success. Youth votes are not enough to win.

Sharul Hafiz Zam/NST

“In each constituency, there will be old people, but this is a free country. If he feels he needs to break away, we do not have a problem as long as they are also in the fight to combat corruption,” said the former prime minister.

Syed Saddiq had been with Dr Mahathir from Bersatu’s inception until their group lost their membership for supporting the opposition.

He has also long been a defender of Dr Mahathir.

The former Bersatu youth chief, however, moved away from Dr Mahathir’s shadow by staying away from Pejuang.