PUTRAJAYA (Nov 5): Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman is working to settle his suit with the prime minister and the government over the withheld parliamentary allocation for his constituency.
Lim Wei Jiet, the counsel for Syed Saddiq, informed the Federal Court on Thursday that they had received an offer that may bring an end to the case and needed some time to iron out the mechanics with the government representatives.
“We apologise for not writing earlier but this was only informed yesterday,” he said.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, who appeared on behalf of the prime minister and government, confirmed the proposed settlement communicated by Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar.
The bench — led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Seri Azizah Nawawi and includes Federal Court judges Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah — fixed Dec 7 for the case to be called back.
The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) co-founder's case concerns outstanding allocations for his constituency, which were put on ice after he withdrew his support for the Anwar administration in September 2023.
The government withheld RM500,000 out of the total of RM1.7 million, which should have been channelled to the Muar service centre’s bank account for the welfare programmes, people's well-being and disaster for the constituency.
The government also revoked another RM230,000 that was part of MyKHAS — a special fund under the purview of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to support local community needs such as schools and mosques.
Syed Saddiq’s hope
“I hope this matter can be resolved within the month,” Syed Saddiq said when met outside proceedings. “This money allocated is not for myself but for the constituents.”
He also thanked the government, the attorney general, and Anwar’s political secretary Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz for helping resolve the issue. He also thanked his lawyers for taking up his case even when told there was little chance as the judicial review was filed out of time.
He also thanked the judiciary for being the last bastion of justice.
Syed Saddiq had alleged that his constituency allocations were frozen after he dropped support for the Anwar administration to protest the withdrawal of criminal charges against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
On Thursday, Syed Saddiq said he will not soften his stance on the withdrawal, stressing that he is backing the separation of powers between the attorney general and the public prosecutor to free both offices from political influence.
“I hope my fellow politicians would also support the bill, which would result in the fruition of the bill being passed,” he added.
The battle
The proposed settlement comes on the heels of a confidence-and-supply agreement signed on Oct 29 by Syed Saddiq and 12 other lawmakers, which strengthened Anwar’s position in Parliament.
Under the agreement, the MPs will support Budget 2027 and institutional reforms, including limiting the prime minister’s tenure to two terms and separating the powers of the attorney general and public prosecutor.
In return, they will receive the same constituency development allocations as government parliamentarians.
Prior to the latest developments, Syed Saddiq had failed in the judicial review application at the High Court on Dec 24, 2024, and his attempt to reinstate the case at the Court of Appeal was also turned down on Oct 27, 2025.
He finally obtained leave or permission on March 10 to pose three questions of law to the Federal Court. He also brought along three other Muar residents, Najib Abu Nawar, Mohd Bakirudin Abdullah and Muhamad Fadzly Bisir, in his case against the prime minister and the government.
For civil cases at the apex court, leave or permission had to be gained first for questions of law that must be novel and of public importance.
Joshua Wu Kai-Ming and Nevyn Vinosh Venudran also represented Syed Saddiq.
Senior federal counsel Nuhafizza Azizan as well as federal counsels Ng Wee Li and Ahmad Ilham Haridz Mohd Padli were part of the team led by Ahmad Hanir.