Muda a bitter pill now but will do Pakatan good in the long haul, analysts believe

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) may appear disruptive to Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) composition at the moment but the party’s membership would ultimately benefit the coalition, according to political watchers.

Analysts told Malay Mail, however, that the fledgling party must accept its own lack of experience and exposure, and take a lesser role in the coalition while it built up its own grassroots and brand.

Universiti Utara Malaysia Centre for International Studies lecturer Prof Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani said the partnership was logical as both PH and Muda were aiming for the youth vote.

“However, Muda has to show that they’re worth the trouble as a member of PH. So far Muda lacks the required machinery and will have to rely on PH support to win votes. Muda is still young as a party. They need to produce many young credible leaders.”

“Now, they are still being seen as Syed Saddiq's party,” he said, referring to Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is also Muar MP.

He also suggested that Muda first prove its worth starting in Johor, where all its elected representatives were currently based, before expanding to other states.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) senior lecturer Dr Romzi Ationg predicted that Muda would be a political force in Malaysia, but said it needed time to establish itself and shake off the view that it was largely a platform for Syed Saddiq.

Referring to a recent Politweet report that showed interest in Muda peaked in December 2021 when the party was formally registered before waning since February this year, Romzi said it appeared that the party has yet to find an effective political narrative to hold the public’s attention.

“It needs more MPs and assemblymen to be heard. At the moment, many suggest that Muda’s political influence is fading and such a view must be dealt with more effective political narratives and strategies from the Muda leadership.

On Friday, PH and Muda announced that they were in formal negotiations for the latter to join the coalition as its fifth component.

Prior to that, PKR Youth had expressed misgivings about allowing Muda into the coalition, following the young party’s demands during the Johor state election that the movement blamed for the loss of some of seats, notably Larkin.

According to Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, both DAP and Amanah as well as their youth wings appeared to welcome Muda’s entry into the coalition, but the strong overlap between Muda and PKR meant the latter would stand firmly in the way.

Both parties appealed to urban and semi-urban seats with a Malay majority, meaning that seats that go to Muda were likely to be those PKR held or targeted.

“Although Muda prides itself on its youthfulness, it is — as I understand it — not an exclusively youth party, but with members of all ages. It is also trying to corner all reform-minded voters, young or old alike,” he said.

PKR’s new deputy president, Rafizi Ramli, was also directing efforts to revive the party’s “attractiveness”, which Oh said would cannibalise Muda’s similar appeal.

But he said that instead of competing, there could be some constituencies where it would make sense for Muda to compete as it would not have the same political baggage.

“PKR’s electoral strength is always dicey, with many party leaders constantly engrossed in internecine power struggles. So, there would be seats where PKR simply could not pull through, so hopefully Muda could complementarily stand out,” he said.

Oh predicted disagreements during seat negotiations and said it would be better for Muda if it did not demand too much from PKR and instead make do with those DAP was willing to yield.

Like Oh, Azzizuddin also said it would be prudent for Muda to bide its time.

“Muda should feel grateful if it becomes a junior partner in PH and should not be too greedy in asking for seats in GE15,” said Azzizudin.

Among reasons for Muda’s rocky road into the PH fold was PKR Youth’s mistrust of the party over the clashes ahead of the Johor state election.

While Muda has worked with PH in the past for demonstrations and other causes, its decision to field candidates in some seats PKR refused to yield in Johor, notably Larkin, has led to bad blood between the two.

In Larkin, PKR Youth blamed Umno candidate Mohd Hairi Mad Shah’s victory on Muda’s decision to split the Opposition vote.