MUDA has reiterated its desire to go into the upcoming general election as part of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

The youth-based party’s information chief, Luqman Long, said the opposition, as a united front, needs to show voters that it has one common enemy, which is Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN).

“I believe moving towards the general election, our real enemies are Umno and BN, and they are the ones we (opposition) should take on,” Luqman told The Malaysian Insight.

“So having a clash among opposition parties will dismiss that notion.”

Luqman, who is also Muda’s co-founder, said being part of PH would also prevent seat clashes among component parties, giving it a better chance of victory at the polls.

He said clashes of seats of among opposition parties would only hand Umno and BN the advantage.

He said Muda wants to avoid this at all costs.

He cited the Johor elections as an example, where Muda and PKR clashed in Larkin, handing BN the victory.

“Seat clashes (like in Larkin) show that nobody from the opposition wins,” Luqman said.

“The ones that will gain the advantage are Umno and BN.

“That is the last thing we want, and hence the reason we need to be a united opposition.”

He said the party will leave it to the PH presidential council to decide if it would accept Muda into the coalition, which currently is made up of PKR, DAP, Amanah and Sabah-based Upko.

On Tuesday, PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim denied a report that it had rejected Muda’s application to join the coalition ahead of the general election.

He said discussions on Muda’s application are ongoing and claimed that there was progress.

Late last night, Anwar said PH will work together with Muda in the upcoming general election as an electoral pact.

On Monday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the dissolution of parliament, paving the way for the general election.

The Election Commission will meet on October 20 to decide on the date for the polls.

Already working together

Although there is no official alliance between Muda and PH, the youth-based party has begun working with the coalition.

“It doesn’t matter whether Muda is in PH officially (for now) or just a political ally,” said Luqman.

“We still work very closely with them.”

Luqman also dismissed speculation that Muda is only working closely with DAP and not others.

One example is the upcoming Ceramah Mega Muar event, held in Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s constituency, which will see several speakers from DAP, Amanah and PKR taking part.

“If you look at the ceramah poster, there are members from PKR and Amanah, and not only DAP,” he said.

“Previously, during the Mana Kapal LCS and Lives First Before Elections protests, we worked closely with members of PH too, where there were speakers from PKR, Amanah and DAP.”

Earlier this year, ahead of the Johor polls, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said Muda was created by DAP to “bait” Malay voters.

At the same polls, it was DAP and Amanah, who offered six seats to Muda, allowing it to make its political debut.

Muda contested in seven seats – including Larkin, where it clashed with PKR – and managed to win one, Puteri Wangsa.

Partnership needed to attract voters

Luqman believes that by allowing Muda to join PH, it will help attract voters.

He said as the opposition, it will need to offer voters something good in order to get people to vote for them.

“As the opposition, I think we have to attract voters out there. We should not split the votes on polling day,” he said.

“So even if you say you are the opposition, working for the people, representing the voices of the people… but at the ballot box if you are seen as being divided, I don’t think that will get voters to go out and vote (for you).

“I don’t think it is being responsible to do that to the voters. So in order for us to be a responsible opposition, we should work together.”

Luqman said voters should be given a strong reason to go out and cast their ballots.

He said one way is to offer them a united opposition front. – October 13, 2022.