By Niza Shimi
To be or not to be part of Pakatan Harapan (PH), that is the question keeping Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) in suspense.
Ever since its president, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, indicated MUDA’s interest in joining PH on September 6, 2022, the young party has met with mixed reactions from within the PH coalition.
Perhaps it was a little premature to announce interest before being accepted but now negotiations are officially underway with the setting up of a committee by the PH presidential council. (Free Malaysia Today (FMT) September 21, 2022).
Of the four component parties in PH, Democratic Action Party (DAP) seems the most receptive to MUDA while Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) are more cautious.
PKR’s William Leong had some tough words to say about MUDA (FMT September 25, 2022). Leong said the party’s grassroots could be “demoralised” if PH were to admit MUDA into its fold and if members had to make way for the new party at the coming 15th general election (GE15).
“The question that needs to be answered is what value can MUDA add if they are going to demand to contest in a constituency previously won by the other component parties?”, Leong added.
Leong was referring to the Johor state elections when MUDA and PKR clashed in the Larkin seat that was eventually won by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) candidate.
Another hotspot was the Puteri Wangsa seat, considered a PKR safe seat, which had to be relinquished to MUDA. The seat was won by MUDA’s candidate Amira Aisyah Abdul Aziz. A bittersweet victory perhaps.
In an FMT report (September 8, 2022) PKR deputy information chief Razeef Rakimin urged PH leaders not to allow MUDA to join the coalition, citing the “insult” made at the Johor polls and arrogant statements by its leaders.
“Looking at what happened in the Johor state election and several arrogant statements by Muda leaders, the presidential council must make a smart choice and not bring in those that will only become a liability to PH,” he said in a statement.
But MUDA has found a protector in DAP. Syed Saddiq has often been seen with DAP leaders on social media videos. Parti Islam Se Malaysia (PAS) president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang even labelled MUDA as “DAP puppets”.
More recently, UMNO’s Nur Jazlan Mohamed suggested that DAP had a new “sugar baby” to replace PAN in its effort to woo Malay votes for GE15 (KiniTV, September 25, 2022). This prompted DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke to call him (Nur Jazlan) a busybody.
MUDA’s president Syed Saddiq is in a difficult spot. He was from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) but was later expelled for sitting in the opposition bench in Dewan Rakyat (Malaysiakini, May 28, 2020).
Syed Saddiq insisted that he had opposed the Sheraton Move that saw Bersatu leaving with 10 PKR members included Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, that toppled the PH government after only 22 months in power.
Bersatu formed the Perikatan Nasional coalition with UMNO and PAS, among others.
Apparently, the pain of the Sheraton Move still stings. As MUDA lacks the experience and machinery to face GE15, what would a rejection by PH mean to the party’s prospects?
Perhaps Syed Saddiq, having been the former Youth and Sports Minister under the PH government, has too much star power? He has become somewhat of an international media darling as Malaysia’s youngest minister.
If MUDA was to be fielded by PH in tough seats with sceptical Malay rural voters who may not appreciate MUDA's cool vibes as the Bangsar elites, can it bring in the votes?
Fresh from organising the “Nyawa dulu, baru PRU” (Life first, then GE) protest against holding GE15 during monsoon season, could the worst-case scenario be that MUDA goes it alone?
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