Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has brushed off criticisms from his former mentor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, over his plans for a new youth-centric political party.

Syed Saddiq said his job was not to just unite the Malays, but to unite all Malaysians.

Met in Kota Kinabalu yesterday, he said that he had great respect for Mahathir but firmly believes that diversity in Malaysia is our strength.

He added that the new party would be "youth-led" and not be "youth-exclusive".