MUDA Officially Registered As A Political Party After 15-Month Legal Battle

By Ahmad Hamizan • 30 Dec 2021 in News

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Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) has officially been registered as a legitimate political party, its founding president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman announced yesterday, 29 December.

The Muar member of Parliament (MP) tweeted that the party had actually been notified of its registration on 23 December, but chose to delay the announcement as they were undertaking flood relief efforts.

“Join us now! Everyone can be a MUDA member – old, young, muslim, non muslim! MUDA is a party for all and a party for the future!”

The tweet announcing the news was accompanied by a video featuring Syed Saddiq (left) and MUDA pro-tem secretary-general Amira Aisya (right). (source: @SyedSaddiq (Twitter))

“We did not want the flood crisis to be drowned with news of politics, that is on Muda’s registration… We were all over Malaysia for the flood mission and to lighten the burden of the rakyat, and only a week after did we announce this good news,” Syed Saddiq was quoted as saying at an earlier press conference by Malay Mail.

MUDA’s formal certification comes after the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered on 14 December that the party be allowed registration, after having been denied so by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and the Home Ministry.

The High Court decision was the culmination of a 15-month legal battle over the party’s status, with MUDA’s co-founders first applying to the RoS on 17 September last year.

The RoS rejected MUDA’s application on 6 January earlier this year, prompting them to launch the first of three lawsuits at the High Court against the decision.

A second lawsuit was filed on April 26, this time including the Home Ministry, after the agency dragged its feet in ruling on an appeal against the RoS’ decision, reported CiliSos.

A mere five minutes before the hearing of second lawsuit, however, the Home Ministry notified MUDA that their appeal was rejected – prompting the final lawsuit, which was ultimately successful.