THE Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) will stand under its on logo in the Johor polls, party president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said.

He said the decision was certain despite the party having agreed to work with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in the state elections.

“What is clear is that Muda is entering this election with our Muda logo, with our political and principle stances, with our very own projected policies which will turbo-charge Johor forward.

“That is decided,” the Muar MP told The Malaysian Insight.

The youth-based party, which is not part of the PH pact but is collaborating with it for the coming Johor elections, is currently negotiating for seats with PH.

Muda’s decision to contest with their logo comes after PKR, which is a component party in PH, decided to use its own logo instead of the coalition’s in the state polls.

The other two parties in PH, Amanah and DAP, will be using the PH logo.

Syed Saddiq said the collaboration with PH was to minimise seat overlaps within the opposition parties and also to unite to topple Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) from retaining the state.

“In respect to opposition partners, we will do our best to minimise seat overlaps and will work together in building a clear narrative to provide a strong alternative to the people of Johor to beat the divisive and corrupt Umno-BN government.

“Yes. We are training our guns on them (Umno-BN),” he said.

Ahead of facing their first elections after officially being registered two months ago, Syed Saddiq admitted that Muda will be the underdogs.

He accepted that it will be a daunting task for Muda to battle other established parties in the elections but said they are up for the challenge.

“Muda is the underdog in Johor,” he said.

“We are first-timers, we are made up of many young and diverse professionals, technocrats, civil servants, ex-civil servants, civil society leaders, community representatives, who may be political lightweights but have great a track record of service, policy building in their own respective jobs.

“We know it will be an uphill task. We know we don’t have the money, unlike the other major political forces and parties, who have been here for the past 30, 40, 50 years.

“That means we will work 10 times harder to win your votes. It means we will focus on policies which would build Johor to become a developed state. So, when we are given a chance, we will work so much harder than others.”

A new brand of politics

The former youth and sports minister also admitted that the Johor polls could be one of the toughest elections ever, given that Malaysia is currently facing the Covid-19 Omicron variant wave.

Besides cases rising due to the new variant, Syed Saddiq said the people were also tired of the current political situation.

This may result in a low voter turnout, he said.

“I keep on reminding my Muda members that we are entering one of the toughest state elections ever.

“It comes at the time of the Omicron wave, where there will be very low voter turnout. It comes at a time where hundreds and thousands of voters are still stuck and stranded in Singapore because they cannot come back to vote.

“It comes at a time where there is genuine voter apathy because of the old politics which have been in practice,” he said.

However, Syed Saddiq said, Muda was prepared for whatever eventualities.

“Our focus is to reform Johor and Malaysia. We have a new brand of politics, a revitalised form of politics to reset Malaysia for good, to overhaul our institutions that will become a developed and dignified country.”

The Election Commission is to meet on Wednesday to fix nomination and polling dates. – February 8, 2022.