KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman today told his party members to be ready to fight the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in the coming general election.

But he also reminded them that the lives of ordinary people are more important than their votes, and they should prioritise helping in disaster-relief efforts should the election coincide with the year-end monsoon season that is predicted to cause widespread flooding nationwide.

"My message is this: if there are floods during the election, I want each one of you to be on the ground to help the people. Politics can be put aside.

"We should prioritise the people, not prioritise the political elites,” he told hundreds of Muda members at their party summit in Bangsar South here.

The 29-year-old added that Umno should be taught a lesson and kicked out of Putrajaya if the Malay nationalist party thought that it could get away with gambling the lives of citizens by pushing for elections to be held during the monsoon season.

The fledgling Opposition party appears to have set its sights on Umno as an obstacle to be dislodged from power even though the current government is formed from an uneasy alliance between the BN and Perikatan Nasional coalitions.

In a later press conference, Syed Saddiq said Muda is ready to stand with Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition as they share the same principles.

But he parried a question on Muda’s status in formally entering PH as a component member.

"The question should be asked to PH’s leadership.

"We have sent our application and it is up to them to decide,” he replied when asked.

Several PH MPs were present at the Muda summit today.

Among those who attended were Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil who is also PKR information chief, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh who is also national assistant publicity secretary in the DAP, and Amanah vice-president Datuk Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia deputy president S. Arutchelvan whose party is also seeking PH membership, was also present.

Syed Saddiq also criticised the government’s proposed Budget 2023 tabled in Parliament yesterday.

He said Malaysians would not be able to take the proposals seriously with rumours of Parliament being dissolved before the Budget could be debated properly and passed, to enable a national election to be held this year.

"This is also disrespectful to the civil servants who worked hard in putting together the Budget,” he added.