MUDA is in the midst of meeting with the opposition parties, including Sabah-based party Warisan, in the lead up to the general election, said party co-founder Dr Thanussha Francis Xavier.

Xavier told The Malaysian Insight Muda will have to work with other political parties as the Registrar of Societies is refusing to register the youth movement as a political party.

“We have also taken them (RoS) to court. The reality is we will need a party going into GE15. (Whether) we have a firm agreement on this yet, no,” she said.

“We are at a stage of meeting party leaders. We have spoken to Warisan and are actively meeting with other leaders.

“Last week we met Mat Sabu (Amanah president Mohamad Sabu) and  (DAP secretary-general Lim) Guan Eng.  This week you will see us meeting Tun (Pejuang founder Dr Mahathir Mohamad) and Anwar (PKR president Anwar Ibrahim).

Last month, Muda co-founder Mutalib Uthman confirmed the party was in talks with Warisan to help the Sabah-based party make its entry into the peninsula.

Xavier said the party is in need of a partner urgently because GE15 is expected to be held this year.

“If we’re talking about two or three years down the road (election), no rush. But if it is really going to be this year, then we’re going to go out there and say, ‘Hello, who will have us, we would love to work with you, we want to run’.

“When we get closer to the election, we will have to work with someone, we need a flag. We have no preference, we are happy to work with anyone who will have us. Any of the opposition parties that are willing to work with us, that’s great.”

Xavier, however, said a decision to be part of the Pakatan Harapan coalition has not been made, but wants the opposition to present a united front in the elections for a better shot at winning.

“We are not negotiating to be part of any coalition. We will work with anybody. Are we going to be one big fat coalition or are we just going to use the flag? It will be decided closer to the election.

“What we want to do is be united with the opposition; we firmly believe in a united opposition front and that’s what we’re working on.

Muda’s only condition is that it will not work with the “court cluster”, as the Umno leaders who are facing trial are known.

“Our redline is we don’t want to work with anyone affiliated with ‘cluster mahkamah’. At least at this point in time, the opposition is not working with ‘cluster mahkamah’. That is good for us and we’re happy to work with anyone in the opposition.”

No news from RoS

On Muda’s application to RoS, Xavier said the party has not received any update on its application to register.

“We said that we want to champion issues that matter to youth aged 15 and above. But we also stated that you need to be 18 years old and above to be a member. So they (RoS) questioned the discrepancy.

“But it’s actually two different things. If an association wants to champion animal rights, you don’t need to be an animal. Those are petty little details.

“Then they said: ‘You’re a youth party but you didn’t limit the age’, which is not our intention either. We want to be youth-led but our party membership is open to even those 70 and more.”

The Muda co-founder said although they have addressed all the issues raised by the RoS, the registrar said they are still not done conducting security checks.

“The latest feedback from RoS is that the co-founders have not cleared security screening. Not that it’s an issue, it’s still being done.

“No timeline has been given. Last week we sent them a letter saying that if we do not hear a response soon, we will go back to court.” – April 9, 2021.