'He has my number': Fahmi on Saddiq's criticism of govt policies

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil lamented that Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman bore a grudge and viewed his ministry’s policies negatively, including the issue of social media licensing.

He said this was despite him being the only PKR leader tasked to reach out to Syed Saddiq, Muda’s sole MP.

“He has my number, he can call me to ask, but he chose to not give me any benefit of the doubt.

“I’m sad because his older brother is an Umno member, I think,” said Fahmi in his speech at the Lembah Pantai Unity Convention this afternoon that gathered division members from BN and Harapan parties.

PKR and Umno are both in the federal government while Muda is not.

“What to do? Maybe he wants to be relevant.

“But what is clear is that he didn’t complete his run,” said the Lembah Pantai MP in a jibe at Saddiq’s triathlon bungle where he said he achieved a podium finish but later apologised after a tracking error was discovered.

In a TikTok post last week, Syed Saddiq lambasted Fahmi’s lack of response over Malaysians questioning the need to license social media platforms.

“(This is) particularly when under the same government, the World Press Freedom Index (ranking) dropped and plummeted terribly.

“Particularly when this government has a more than 40-fold increase in blocking political criticism,” he said.

Social media salvo

Met by reporters after the convention today, Fahmi also responded to Syed Saddiq’s criticism of the minister’s announcement on Aug 5 that the government is considering developing a social media app for Malaysians.

The former Muda president in a video on TikTok the next day said the government will waste taxpayer money building the proposed social media app.

“The same people who want to ban social media because of fears from the people’s criticism are the same people who want to waste your money, taxpayers, to make a new social media that is controlled, sponsored by this Madani government,” he said.

However, on the same day, Fahmi clarified 6 that building a social media application would be too costly and is not the government’s priority.

“Maybe he did not check his facts. To Syed Saddiq, if you’re unsure, don’t share,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the online harassment of Malaysian athletes at the Paris Olympics, Fahmi noted they could be considered cyberbullying, especially if athletes felt their mental health was affected.

He added that he would review the situation and request the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to make a follow-up statement.

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