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Saifuddin Nasution says he is too busy to read Muda’s letter on Pakatan application status

Malay Mail
Malay Mail

PUTRAJAYA, March 22 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that he has yet to read the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance’s (Muda) letter on its application to join the coalition since the formation of the unity government.

Saifuddin Nasution, who is also the home minister, said the reason he has yet to read the letter was because his ministerial duties have kept him occupied.

Addressing Muda’s concerns about its application status, he acknowledged that the youth-centric political party is part of the government as it stipulated in the unity government’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

“Muda is still bound by the unity government MoU. I received (a letter) before the last general election (GE15), but as of now, I haven’t read anything yet, because I have been at the ministry’s office this whole time,” he said during a news conference after the Home Ministry’s monthly staff meeting.

On Monday, it was reported that Muda was not invited to a meeting of the unity government’s secretariat for a second time.

According to news portal Malaysiakini, Muda secretary-general Amir Hariri Abd Hadi said that the party sent a third letter on February 18 requesting a meeting with the PH secretariat over several issues, such as Muda’s role in the government, but is still waiting for a response.

On February 8, Amir had on Twitter said Muda was not invited to the secretariat meeting, even though its backdrop displayed the logos of all coalitions and parties in the unity government, including that of Muda.

On February 9, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Muda was not invited to the meeting as it was for “founding member parties” but said Muda will be part of future meetings as it also supports the government.

PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli explained on the same day that the secretariat meeting was for MoU signatories and parties with three MPs or more, namely PH, Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Warisan.

While Muda is a signatory of the MoU, it has only one MP in the form of its president Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman.