KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — The Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) has said it wants no part of any cooperation between PKR and longtime political rival Umno.

Its president Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman told Mingguan Malaysia that his party would rather remain in the Opposition bloc than work with the likes of Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who still face trials on graft charges.

"My stand is that I am still in the Opposition bloc. I have no problem supporting Anwar, I support his reform policies. As for political cooperation, if he suddenly says, ‘Saddiq, join the government with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib (Abdul Razak)’, I will say, ‘It’s okay’ and I will refuse.

"We have to fight kleptocracy, that is clear, and I will not compromise. That is why, when I reprimand Anwar over this issue, I will continue to do so, and there is nothing wrong with reprimanding him,” he told the Sunday edition of Utusan Malaysia in reference to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Mingguan Malaysia reported that it is for this reason that Syed Saddiq insisted he won’t be labelled the "biggest hypocrite”, stressing that his party will continue to champion the reform agenda and improve the public’s socioeconomic lot even if it has to stand on its own as an Opposition party.

He added that the public are tired of politicians playing politics amid the pandemic, and yearn for leaders who look out for their future and are committed to keeping the government accountable through the principle of checks and balances.

Earlier this month, a leaked audio clip of two men, whose voices resembled that of Ahmad Zahid and Anwar, went viral.

The four-minute clip was first posted on Facebook and started with Ahmad Zahid’s speech at the recent 2020 Umno general assembly in which he said the party would not accept Anwar, DAP and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) as allies.

This was followed by a second recording of what is believed to be a phone conversation, with one man sounding like Anwar praising his opposite number over the speech.

Both Ahmad Zahid and Anwar have since brushed off the audio recording as fake.