He had said the Indian community in Ulu Tiram was unhappy with the elected representative there, and he accused the assemblyman of not looking after the people’s welfare, and of being irresponsible. He said the people there were sick of this and wanted change.

In another posting later today, Syed Saddiq admitted his mistake in having undermined the work and responsibilities of S Gopalakrishnan, whom he described as his PKR “comrade”. Gopalakrishnan was elected to the Tiram seat in the 2018 general election.

Syed Saddiq said his visit to Ulu Tiram, to learn more about taking care of the rakyat, had been part of Muda’s learning process.

He said his party was not perfect and neither was he, as MP for Muar.

“In the spirit of togetherness with my friends from PKR, I apologise for my mistake,” he wrote. “In the Muar parliamentary constituency, I haven’t been perfect either. There are many other tasks and responsibilities that I still need to fulfil.”

Gopalakrishnan, who is vice-chief of Johor PKR, had earlier criticised Syed Saddiq for his posting and asked what proof Syed Saddiq had to show.

He later thanked Syed Saddiq and his team for visiting the Ulu Tiram constituency. “It is true that nobody is perfect,” he said, and looked forward to “healthy contests” at the Johor state elections.

Johor voters are to go to the polls for fresh elections to the state assembly, which was dissolved on Jan 22.

Muda will be making its first election outing and the party is still holding negotiations with PH on seat allocations.