MUDA’S success in winning one out of seven seats it contested in the recent Johor state elections has sparked interest in the party in Terengganu, the party’s state sponsor chairman, Asyrul Malek, said.

Membership in the youth-based party there jumped with 200 registrations after the March 12 polls, and has now reached almost 1,000, which is considered a success for a new party, he told The Malaysian Insight.

Muda secretary-general Amira Aisya Abd Aziz won the Puteri Wangsa state seat in Johor by a 7,114-vote margin over her closest rival from Barisan Nasional in a six-cornered fight.

“When Muda was first set up, we did not even target the East Coast states because those interested in Muda tend to be from city and urban areas,” said Asyrul.

“But after winning the seat in the Johor polls, people are more aware of Muda and are interested in what it has to offer.”

He said the membership surge is a sign that young voters in the Terengganu want change.

“We may still be small but this is the starting point for change in Terengganu, where Umno and PAS have dominated the political scene for so long,” he added.

Asyrul reiterated Muda’s oft-repeated phrase: the party is out to do “politics of service”.

He said this makes Muda different from other opposition parties.

Asyrul, who is from Dungun, claimed that although PKR, Amanah and Pejuang also have chapters in the state, they are not widely accepted by locals.

“Amanah and Bersatu are just splinter parties. Amanah broke away from PAS and Bersatu is also a child of Umno,” he said, adding that Terengganu folk tend to be loyal to either PAS or Umno.

“As for PKR, we here do not get attention from its president Anwar Ibrahim as PKR likes to focus more on the urban areas and states to the north.”

Small and new, Asyrul said, Muda is not expecting to capture Terengganu in the 15th general election, which must be held by July 2023 at the latest.

The state is one of PAS’ heartland areas, and the long-standing rivalry between the supporters of the Islamist party and Umno means that the locals will find it difficult to accept other parties, he said.

“We will still try to win the hearts of the people. Terengganu Muda will still aim to represent the people’s voices in the state legislative assembly as well as in Parliament,” he said.

“We may not win all the seats but we want to represent at least some constituencies.”

So far, Muda’s reputation in Terengganu is decent, after mobilising aid and rescue missions when the state was hit by severe floods at the end of last month.

Asyrul said the party’s next focus is to help those needing welfare aid but have somehow fallen through the cracks and are neglected.

A cash aid programme by the Terengganu government, Bantuan i-Fitri, has been problematic for some who need it, allegedly because of the many conditions required. It is aimed at B40 and M40 groups in the state and comes in amounts of RM450 and RM250 respectively.

“People are finding it difficult to fill out forms and go through the many processes required,” Asyrul said.

“It may be a small matter for the state government administrators but it is a big issue for the people.”

As for its official operations as a party, Asyrul said Terengganu Muda is waiting for approval from the Registrar of Societies to open a state branch. He expects this to be completed by mid-April.

Muda is also working on opening branches in eight parliamentary constituencies in Terengganu.

Of their nearly 1,000 members so far, Asyrul said they comprise residents and local-born people who are working outside the state.

Nationwide, the party, formed by Muar MP and former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman after he was sacked from Bersatu, has 76,000 members, aged between 18 and 83, as of February. – March 26, 2022.