WE saw the spread of #PauseMalaysia led by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda). The aim of this proposal was to pause the ongoing political game while Malaysia is facing her biggest wave of Covid-19 yet. 

#PauseMalaysia came with three proposals. Firstly, a “ceasefire” period for the power struggle in Putrajaya. Secondly, there should not be a general election as long as Covid-19 remains a risk. Finally, all political parties should sit at the same table to resolve people’s issues. If the spirit of this proposal was accepted by our political forefathers six decades ago, the Malaysian political landscape would surely be more mature. However, Malaysians historically are not well-versed in bipartisan politics such as #PauseMalaysia.

The usual rhetoric of prioritising the interests of their constituents dominates most, if not all, political speech. The impact of such speech in making life easier for people remains in question. 

What remains true is the affinity of the political actors for the political game. This high-stake game has a big impact not only on the public but also at the individual level. As a start, the latest “Abah” political game during the March political coup has led to the fall of five state governments of the previous coalition. Mind you, these former governments were elected by the rakyat. With the new Perikatan Nasional government, the old political titans are back in the game. 

In order for us to deep dive into this conversation and perhaps understand the main driver of this old politics, we need to ask, “Was economic recovery the main agenda for this coalition? If so, what is the cost of this agenda to the nation?”

Historically, it takes a long time to recover from an economic crisis. For example, the 1997 Asian financial crisis in Malaysia only fully ended in 2004 when Pak Lah became prime minister. Malaysia was tested again during the 2008 global financial crisis. Till today, the people are feeling the long-term effects of the financial crisis of stagnating wages, a high unemployment rate and lower purchasing power. Hence, the sitting government will weaponise the economic crisis to sway voters and public perception of its governance and economic recovery plan. 

That is the flavour of the “old” Malaysian politics. The influence is strongly felt from the political elites to the grass root movements. For that reason, the ‘Abah’ government had to bring back the old political tools such as electing members of parliament to lead government linked companies in order to gain political support. A government without a strong mandate will not have an easy time in bringing the economy to a good level. In summary, no security and direction from the government of the day. 

Countless parties have tried to reform this political formula, but none have succeeded so far.

To have a relatively young Syed Saddiq and his Muda party to take on this challenge would be interesting. In fact, Muda has shown a rather impressive ability to use social media and crowdfunding to support its course. This was evident when it successfully collected funds to help local university students in distress in the past few weeks due to the chaotic backpedaling of policies by the Higher Education Ministry. Muda leveraged on this crisis by quickly assisting students without regards to race, religion or culture thus cementing its inclusivity claim. The speed and effectiveness of its efforts indirectly motivates a social impact race within the Malaysian community with highly regarded personalities such as Ebit Liew also rising to the occasion. To a certain degree, Muda has successfully positioned itself as more effective and forward thinking than youth wings of other political parties in Malaysia. 

Thus, it is highly perplexing to see that Muda is campaigning for #PauseMalaysia after it has achieved success and popularity among the energetic youth population. A rational actor, who subscribes to the old political flavour, would certainly continue building up the political need for change in the current government. Not only that, it is also worrying to observe tainted political actors from Perikatan Nasional, leaning on Syed Saddiq’s shoulder by agreeing with the #PauseMalaysia proposal. 

Muda is thus stuck in the middle, criticised by both spectrums of the political ideologies in Malaysia.  

It seems that the youth narrative which sits at the core of Muda and #PauseMalaysia, is oddly derived from the old spirit of emotion, excessive optimism and countless discussion. As we have learnt from the harsh lessons of 2020, Muda should and must take a step back and review its campaign. Muda should be “younger” in formulating political strategies and narratives, which not only benefit the people but its struggle for political power. 

Syed Saddiq and Muda have a long challenging journey ahead. In this journey, emotion and aggressive attitude towards political response is detrimental as the current political momentum is very volatile. Muda should continue to repeat its success by channeling its energy towards greater change on the ground, while refraining to pursue populist sentiments in the country. 

While I am critical of the need for political certainty, this does not mean that the old political culture will be upheld forever. The cracks of party politics in Malaysia are showing quickly as more voters demand their political parties match the speed and effeciency of Muda in tackling national issues. 

In order to realise this new aspiration, Muda must become a good-invited-player in this game. Muda must pave and occupy the middle seat of the political spectrum. Muda’s peaceful rise should also include collective support towards established political players.  Let the old politicians and rakyat bow to and respect Muda because of the new narrative, structure and ideas it brings to the table. 

The biggest question remains, what is the new political narrative championed by Muda and Syed Saddiq? – October 9, 2020.

* Afiq Ramizi, Firdaus Rizal, and Fakhrurrazi Rashid are young ordinary citizens who believe in better Malaysia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.