YOURSAY | Muda’s Johor debut will show whether it can deliver

 

YOURSAY | ‘It'll be awesome if they can leverage the youth vote, but...’

‘Harapan should terminate cooperation with Muda’

COMMENT | Harapan’s fatal attraction to Muda

Constitutional Supremacy: Damansara PKR Youth vice-chief Syed Badli Shah Syed Osman, you are making a very poor and unconvincing argument.

First, the facts as were widely reported in the press: Pakatan Harapan’s negotiations with Muda on seat allocation failed about a month ago.

Harapan component parties - DAP, Amanah, PKR - agreed to the allocation of seats as follows: PKR (20), Amanah (20), DAP (16). Thus, all 56 seats were divided among themselves with none for Muda.

After concluding negotiations, the three parties agreed that each component party could negotiate directly with Muda.

DAP and Amanah negotiated with Muda, and the youth party was given six seats which it requested, resulting in the three parties signing a strategic agreement in which DAP and Amanah surrendered the six seats they were previously allocated with to Muda.

Thus, it can be concluded that negotiations with Muda were conducted individually by DAP and Amanah, not with Harapan as a whole.

As such, Syed Badli, you were wrong when you said the seats were given by Harapan.

The six seats given by DAP and Amanah to Muda and the agreement signed between them meant that the three parties will support each other in their respective seats.

So, if PKR were to put up any candidate to contest against Muda in any of the six seats, then DAP and Amanah would be duty-bound to support Muda.

Karnak: Well, dilution of power is always the price for winning electoral seats when other parties have a better cache amongst certain segments of voters.

That's why there was that devil's bargain with Bersatu, not merely in Johor but elsewhere. Wasn't this always the case?

And I'd like to point out one thing: would the coalition have survived if PKR did not have their own defections? If Azmin Ali and his coterie didn't make their move, it would have been a very different landscape.

So much for knowing who your friends are when even your family betrays you.

As for Muda, Malaysiakini columnist P Gunasegaram have a point. But then again, where will PKR and DAP draw their new crop of young leaders from?

Those names he mentioned? A few exiles, and a few biding their time because the leaders on top refuse to make way for new blood.

I think we all need to sit back and realise that dreams of a "new Malaysia" have for the longest time been borne on the backs of leaders that have been way past their prime.

Can you blame these leaders for not letting go? They sacrificed everything for their cause. Unfortunately, the biggest sacrifice they can make now is the one they refuse to do: step aside.

So back to Muda: as I have said elsewhere, they will need to prove themselves. By the end of this state election, they will finally understand what campaigning means, and what having an election machinery actually needs.

And I also agree with another Malaysiakini columnist S Thayaparan: let Muda stand as independents.

It'll be awesome if they can leverage the youth vote, but they will have to prove that they can, and that they aren't just a bunch of Twitter photos and good soundbites.

We liberal voters are merciless when it comes to our leaders; we devour them.

Headhunter: PKR should stop acting like the self-appointed big brother. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

You disparage others when they don't concede to your whims and fancy. It appears that Harapan is being dominated by PKR. Their “my way or the highway” attitude is very arrogant and condescending.

To many potential Harapan voters, this is a total put off. This has already been reflected in two state elections.

My prediction is that the Johor election will bear the same results for PKR. So better stop behaving like a spoiled brat before it gets worse.

The Wakandan: Technically, Harapan is right in this. It is Harapan vs Muda. Cooperation is meaningless if they clash.

If they cooperate in some seats but clash in others, it definitely shows desperation and admission of weakness on their part.

Either they cooperate or Muda can try their popularity by competing in all seats and let the people decide. Any negotiation can be done after the election.

I agree with Gunasegaram - Harapan’s priority is the original core group, PKR, DAP and Amanah. As far as the Johor election is concerned, everything is settled. Usage of PKR logo was agreed upon and understood.

Then came Muda – an outsider that threatened to split Harapan’s rank. Harapan has been disconnected and delirious by their defeats and seemed to be directionless, losing their compass.

Yielding to Muda is an act of desperation and poor judgement.

Convention would demand that Muda should accept what Harapan give to them instead of demanding.

Muda is very much over-hyped. The reality on the ground of an election is another thing altogether. A political party is not built in a day. It takes years to be endeared and known to the people.

It is always a long-term process and investment, which can be very draining. It needs perseverance and patience.

Very seldom an ad hoc party will make it successfully in the poll. Election is a serious matter. People seldom gamble with it.

Quigonbond: Well, this is the time for experimentation. Better for Harapan to gauge how far Muda can go so that they can better prepare for GE15.

Even Warisan wants to have a piece of the pie in Johor. - Mkini