MUDA’s chances of being a third force in Malaysia is almost zero as it only has two elected representatives, one in parliament and the other in Johor, pundits said.

Analysts said the youth-based party does not carry much weight in the current political climate of a multi-racial coalition against a Malay-Muslim based coalition.

A third force is defined as a grouping that is intermediate between two opposing political forces.

“Muda can be a third force like it wants to, but I doubt whether it can contribute significantly to legislation in Parliament and the Johor state assembly.

“One lone voice cannot make any difference,” International Islamic University of Malaysia’s Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar told The Malaysian Insight.

The political science assistant professor said the current political field is already congested with big parties. Muda needs to find something unique to gain support from voters, failing which the party would be deemed a “dead duck”.

“Maybe they should be creating public awareness on issues of concern through engagement on social media,” he said, adding that it could keep the party relevant in the political field.

Muda won the Muar parliamentary seat as well as the Puteri Wang state seat in Johor by cooperating with Pakatan Harapan (PH).

In the 222-seat chamber, PH counts 81 among its ranks, BN (30), PN (74), GPS (23) and GRS (6).

In the Johor assembly BN has 49 seats, PH (12) and PN (3). Last Sunday, Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman announced that his party would no longer support the unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in protest against the public prosecutor’s decision to drop the 47 charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The Muar lawmaker declared that Muda will now become the third force in the opposition.

Following Muda’s decision to leave the government bloc in parliament, this reduced the support for Anwar’s administration to 147 while increasing the opposition’s figure to 75. A minimum of 148 MPs is required for a two-thirds majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat.

Despite retracting support, Syed Saddiq stressed his commitment and support towards federal government proposed laws in parliament if those Bills are “progressive” and intended for reforms.

Government Bills that would need two-thirds majority support in the Dewan Rakyat would include proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution, such as a long-awaited amendment to enable overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers to automatically be Malaysian citizens.

In the Johor assembly, Puteri Wangsa assemblyman Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz’s decision to sit with the opposition brings the number of opposition in the state to four, with the other three coming from Perikatan Nasional (PN)

Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said Muda’s cooperation with Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) will not have a significant impact in the current political landscape.

“Being the third force is not a good choice for Muda as well as for Syed Saddiq because in Malaysia there are three other political giants – PH, PN and Barisan Nasional (BN) – which are accepted by the people.

“Working with PSM as a third force would not have a big impact on national politics because both Muda and PSM are small parties that have very little influence among Malaysians,” he said.

Mazlan said despite Muda retracting its support from the government, he said it does not do much damage to the current administration.

“The unity government has certainly lost the two-thirds majority but it does not affect the position of the government.

“The government still has a large majority,” he said.

Mazlan also added that Muda might be irrelevant without the support of PH.

“As we know Syed Saddiq won the Muar parliamentary seat as a result of Muda’s partnership with PH.

“He will lose that seat if he contests solo in the next election,” Mazlan said.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya also echoed the views of the other experts, saying Muda does not possess the strength to be an effective third force in the opposition with their one seat.

He said Muda’s decision to part ways from supporting the government bloc will be the start of their demise.

“Due to this, Muda will not be supported by PH, let alone BN,”

“I see this as the beginning of a decline for Muda as their support will fade little-by-little, giving them less chance in the next general election,” the political expert said.

Awang Azman was of the view that even the youth will reject Muda, an age group that the party champions for.

“At the moment, most moderate and progressive youths see PH as their voice.

“Some view Syed Saddiq as a volatile and emotional leader, which also gives a negative reputation to his party,” he said.

Keeping the government in check

Muda communication bureau head K. Leben Siddharth admitted that one seat in parliament and another in the Johor state assembly would not make much impact.

He, however, stressed that the party will work to be the voice of the people by keeping the government in check.

“What we are planning to do is to be an effective opposition, where we will question the government on its every action.

“If it is good action and benefits the government, of course we will support it, but if it is not beneficiary and lopsided like Zahid’s decision, then we will question it.

“We will keep the government in check,” he said.

Leben said Muda would want to keep the public informed and updated on all the developments in the government. – September 14, 2023.