Muda gets wings, but can it fly?

Muda, the young upstart of Malaysian politics, has just been given wings. Its secretary-general Amira Aisya Abd Aziz won the Puteri Wangsa seat in yesterday’s Johor state elections.

In electing at least one of Muda’s seven candidates to the state assembly, Johor voters have given the party headed by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman confidence to move forward and win more seats in the 15th general election.

Syed Saddiq won his parliamentary seat under the Bersatu ticket in the 2018 general election. So, this win by the energetic Amira Aisya is important as it is the first win by Muda, flying its own flag. It can, therefore, lay the groundwork for the party’s progress.

Amira Aisya won the Puteri Wangsa seat with a majoriti of 7,114 votes, after getting 22,884 votes in a six-cornered fight. It is a solid majority.

Although not a grand success, the electoral debut of the party that wants to disrupt Malaysian politics and the way the nation is managed is not a failure.

Muda lost the six other seats it contested – Larkin, Tenang, Bukit Kepong, Parit Raja, Machap and Bukit Permai – in the Johor polls.

This was the first election since the voting age was lowered to 18 in July 2019 following a constitutional amendment and there are 173,177 voters aged 18 to 20 who are eligible to vote in Johor. Syed Saddiq and Muda had been at the forefront of getting the voting age lowered.

Their efforts may just have paid off.

Puteri Wangsa, which Amira Aisya won, has the highest number of voters in the 18-21 age group in Johor – 11,157.

Could Muda have done better if it had not squabbled with PKR? Relations between the two parties had been strained since last year, after two postings against PKR made by Muda. Subsequently, their seat negotiations for Johor failed. Things got worse when Muda fielded its candidate in Larkin which PKR was contesting.

One can understand PKR’s frustration because in the 14th General Election, PKR’s Mohd Izhar Ahmad had won Larkin with an 8,590-vote majority in a three-cornered fight with PAS and Umno.

Because of the elections, both sides had earlier expressed regret and downplayed the matter with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim saying: “We negotiated during the meetings… finally we abided by the spirit of camaraderie, but this did not happen in Larkin, of course, it’s sad.”

But now, with Larkin being won by Barisan Nasional, PKR may not forgive Muda for splitting the votes. However, I believe, they will eventually learn to live with each other as PKR will have to acknowledge that the young party does hold some promise. And PKR too won only one seat in the polls, a dismal showing.

Those who had claimed that Muda was only strong on social media and that it would not appeal to the majority of voters have been proven wrong, but not entirely, as only one of its candidates won. The party will have to work harder on the ground too.

Although one seat is better than nothing, I’m sure it is not what the Muda leadership expected.

After all, they came out with their own “Tekad Muda” manifesto and its five core promises: practising pro-people democracy, an energised and speedy leadership, empowering the M40 group, reducing the gap between the different classes of people and ensuring economic success for everyone.

They promised to establish a “Majlis Rakyat”, or People’s Committee, where the public could discuss and vote on policies or plans which would be forwarded to the state government. They also promised to introduce a “Skim Teroka Tanah Bangsa Johor” where state land would be leased to the youth wanting to get involved in fisheries and farming.

They went all out, with volunteers, to woo the electorate with their inclusive politics mantra.

Syed Saddiq said last December that although Muda did not have “money, experience, power and positions like so many others” they had “pure and clean hearts”.

“We are here because we want to serve, not because we want to hold positions or power. After this we must work 100 times harder. Not to destroy political enemies, but to build a better country.”

While the message and manifesto resonated with the voters of Puteri Wangsa, it did not have sufficient effect on the other six seats the party contested.

Perhaps if the voter turnout had been higher, they might have done better. But who knows?

However, Muda’s showing, though small, should strengthen its hand when it comes to seat negotiations among the opposition for GE15. If it can win a seat in Johor, it can win elsewhere too.

This is just the boost the party, which struggled for a year to get registered and succeeded only when the High Court ordered the home minister to register it last December, needs.

With the 15th general election not too far away – it has to be called by July 2023 – Muda will know if the Johor win is a fluke or whether it represents similar sentiment in other states too.

Last month, Syed Saddiq said: “Muda is not here only for the Johor election or the 15th General Election. We want to change the hearts and minds of the people. We know it can be difficult, but we’ll put in the work.

“….We don’t want to merely practice the politics of pandering. We want to practise the politics of changing hearts and minds and we do acknowledge it is a tough task. But if we don’t start now, when will we ever do it?

“We acknowledge that it will be a long arduous journey, but we are in this for the long haul.”

That’s good. At least he knows that things don’t come without a struggle no matter how good your intentions.

It’s possible that Muda will be able to increase its membership of 75,000, which is impressive for a new party, and cause the disruption it plans in the near future.

While the win indicates that Muda could have a future in Malaysian politics, the party would do well to drop its naivete and learn to play the game of politics – without losing its idealism and ethical base. It has to realise too that it has a long, long way to go before it gets popular voter acceptance.

Muda has got its wings, now it must learn to fly and deftly navigate the turbulence and corruption in national politics. It also has to constantly remind itself that one swallow does not a summer make. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.