Speaking to former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin on their “Keluar Sekejap” podcast released today, Shahril noted that although Syed Saddiq had been continuously attacked by Pakatan Harapan, the Muar MP had clearly shown his principles.
“For me, his stand, and the way he conveyed it, is based on his principles. Some will be cynical and say he is not principled, but he has more backbone than other senior politicians.
“Whatever you say about him, at least he backed up his big talk,” said Shahril.
He said Syed Saddiq’s exit will not have a huge effect on the unity government’s loss of its two-thirds majority, as he had said he will support any reform agenda that is good and has basis.
“Don’t use this as an excuse that he does not want to aid the drafting of new laws or amendments to the Federal Constitution. If it is good, he will support it.
“There is no need for him to sit on the government bench for good things to happen,” he said.
However, Khairy said the exit will have a “direct political impact” on future elections, noting that if seats are added to the Dewan Rakyat – as many Pakatan Harapan grassroots members have asked for – a two-thirds majority will be required.
“They say that in urban areas represented by DAP, PKR and so on, voter numbers have reached around 300,000, more than 250,000,” Khairy said.
“They say, surely we can ask for these areas to be broken up (delineated), but to break them up requires a constitutional amendment. In this case, Syed Saddiq’s action will have consequences, because we don’t know whether he will support it or not.
“There will be a direct political impact on the coming elections.”
Shahril agreed, noting that any efforts to delineate borders will require that all parties be convinced of their fairness to all, not just one party.
Syed Saddiq announced Muda’s exit from the unity government on Sunday. On Monday, he took his seat in the Dewan Rakyat among opposition members.
The party’s exit left the government without a two-thirds majority just a day after PH had restored the supermajority by winning the Pulai parliamentary by-election.