Johor polls: Muda’s adversaries write off its appeal on the ground

 

JOHOR POLLS | Adversaries of Muda have dismissed the youth-based party’s sway on young voters in the contentious Johor state election.

The upcoming polls will mark the first time Malaysians aged 18 and above can vote. It is also the first election since automatic voter registration was implemented. 

Muda is set to make its electoral debut in Johor and is presently negotiating seats with opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, state youth leaders from “Keluarga Malaysia” parties Bersatu, Umno and PAS all believed that the new party’s influence did not extend beyond social media. 

Bersatu: Muda popular online

Johor Bersatu youth chief Muhammad Shamsuddin Paijian believed Muda had little influence on the ground. 

“To me, (its influence) is only in the virtual world.

“On the ground, not all youths sway towards Muda,” he said when contacted recently. 

Even if youths were attracted to Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, he believed this did not necessarily mean they would vote for Muda. 

To Shamsuddin, this was because the party had yet to demonstrate a clear “direction”.

“Yes, indeed we see that Muda is more focused on online postings. They are more powerful, advanced and more ahead than Bersatu Youth but we are not focused on mere ‘acting’. 

“We are more about doing activities on the ground. The most important thing is the votes,” he added.

Elaborating, Shamsuddin explained that Bersatu Youth rarely posts about their activities online because grassroots engagement was more important.  

What is posted online may not necessarily reflect reality, he also believed. 

Bersatu was Syed Saddiq’s former party, where he served as its national youth chief from its inception in 2016. 

He was expelled from the party in 2020 after he declined to support the Sheraton Move political coup. He later set up Muda, which was finally registered as a political party in late Dec 2021. 

Umno: We don’t need ‘likes’

Meanwhile, Johor Umno Youth chief Mohd Hariri Mad Shah welcomed Muda’s electoral debut in Johor. 

He viewed its entry as “healthy competition” for the youth vote but believed it would not be able to seriously challenge Umno Youth’s track record of providing welfare to the needy.

“We don’t need to stand out or attract the social media crowd or ‘likes’. 

“Umno Youth has long been doing what they (Muda) are doing. But we rather focus on our responsibilities to the grassroots than the number of likes or how much help we can get on social media. 

“Umno youth believes young people are wise enough to evaluate this,” Hariri told Malaysiakini. 

PAS: Muda’s mere ‘liberal’ appeal

For Johor PAS Youth chief Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz, he dismissed Muda as only being able to appeal to a small segment of “liberal” voters. 

He expected the conservative majority to be split between Perikatan Nasional - where PAS and Bersatu are - and Umno.

Nawfal did not perceive Muda as being able to split enough votes to threaten PAS’ chances. 

“They (Muda) are more about disrupting the vote.

“They will get the segment (of voters) that they want but this will merely disturb the voter (base) of other parties. They may not even be able to (win),” he said.

Like Shamsuddin and Hairi, Nawfal believed that Muda’s considerable influence was only limited online. 

“In reality, many people are criticising them and they know what they have done on the ground. There are also other stories,” he said.

Images previously surfaced depicting a group of people dressed in Muda t-shirts while consuming alcoholic drinks.

Syed Saddiq refuted claims that flood relief funds had been used to purchase the drinks.

Just like last year’s Malacca election, “Keluarga Malaysia” parties are set to clash against each other in Johor.

Umno-BN has decided to contest on their own against Bersatu and PAS. 

Nawfal believed that the youth are now more drawn to PAS.

Hairi, meanwhile, opined that such voters regretted choosing Harapan in GE14 and now preferred Umno. 

Shamsuddin told Malaysiakini that his party Bersatu was well prepared to appeal to Johor youths.  - Mkini