Syed Saddiq's Muar Allocation Dispute Nears Settlement

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- The government has agreed in principle to reinstate constituency allocations previously withdrawn from Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, paving the way for a possible settlement of a legal dispute over the funds.

Lawyer Lim Wei Jiet, representing Syed Saddiq and three Muar voters, told the Federal Court three-member bench today that both sides have agreed to settle the matter in principle.

“What is agreed in principle is essentially for the 2023 allocation of RM500,000, which was cancelled, to be reinstated, and also for RM230,000, which is allocated for specific projects under the myKhas project, to also be reinstated,” he said.

In light of the development, the lawyer requested a short adjournment of today’s proceedings to allow parties to work towards settling the lawsuit.

Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly@Arwi, who appeared for the Prime Minister and the government, confirmed the agreement, adding that the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar had been informed of the development.

“I support my learned friend’s request for a short date for us to work out the mechanism for the settlement,” he said. 

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Seri Azizah Nawawi, who chaired the three-member Federal Court bench, fixed Dec 7 for case management pending settlement. The other judges were Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Syed Saddiq, Najib Abu Nawar, Mohd Bakirudin Abdullah and Muhamad Fadzly Bisri had sought leave to commence a judicial review to quash the government’s decision to withhold RM500,000 from a total of RM1.7 million earmarked for the Muar Parliamentary Service Centre for welfare, community well-being and disaster relief programmes.

They also sought to reinstate Syed Saddiq’s access to the myKHAS system, which manages RM2 million in constituency development funds, and reverse the cancellation of approved projects worth RM230,300.

They also challenged the government's refusal to approve or allocate funds to Syed Saddiq for programmes under Projek Mesra Rakyat or similar initiatives in 2024.

The applicants argued that the decisions violated their right to equality under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, affecting both Syed Saddiq as Muar MP and the three voters.

Syed Saddiq and the voters filed their judicial review leave application on April 23, 2024, naming the Prime Minister and the Malaysian government as respondents.

The High Court dismissed their application on Dec 24, 2024, while the Court of Appeal upheld the decision on Oct 27, 2025. However, the Federal Court granted them leave to appeal on March 10 this year.

-- BERNAMA