KUALA LUMPUR – Political analysts appear to have written off the electoral pact between fledgling party Muda and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) for the upcoming elections in six states, asserting that the cooperation might have little to no bearing at the polls.
Speaking to Scoop, the pundits agreed that the union, which promotes itself as being a “third force” in the nation’s political scene, is unlikely to make the necessary inroads to secure victories in its contested seats.
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun cautioned that the alliance could inadvertently bring about gains for Perikatan Nasional (PN), which holds three state assemblies – Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.
“A lot of tight races (during the elections) are expected to happen between PN on one side with Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) on the other,” he said.
“If Muda and PSM were to split even just a few votes from PH or BN, it could prove fatal (to PH and BN).”
Besides that, Universiti Sains Malaysia’s political science lecturer Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, who predicted that the collaboration will have “little if any” impact on the elections, said that voter tendencies also play a factor during elections.
“The Muda-PSM cooperation is ideologically based, but unfortunately, Malaysians still prioritise ethno-religious considerations rather than ideology when voting.
“The contest in Malaysia is between Malay-Muslim religious nationalism and Malay-led multi-culturalism,” he added.
Similarly, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia academician Kartini Aboo Talib said that the collaboration will not lead to the youth-based Muda rousing significant support from the younger generation of voters.
“Muda is on the losing end and making an alliance with PSM will not do much to affect youth voters to depend on Muda as a third force,” she said.
“One thing about Muda is that members can only stay young for a while. The group will move to different age cohorts with matured political enthusiasm and options.”
Meanwhile, Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Azmi Hassan pointed out that Muda’s decision to head for the polls without PH is reminiscent of events that transpired between the coalition and PSM during the 15th general elections (GE15) last year.
“During GE15, PSM decided to go solo because PH did not allocate any seats to them, which is similar to the situation faced by a frustrated Muda who has not received recognition (from PH), despite being friendly to the government” he said.
He also said that PH’s support towards either PSM or Muda during previous general or state elections have shown that neither parties are able to make notable progress in garnering votes.
“When PSM had PH or (PH component party) PKR backing them up during the last few general elections, nothing much was gained by PSM and the same was seen during the Johor state elections where Muda only won one seat.
“The pact (between Muda and PSM) does not seem like a force to be reckoned with, nor will it be a threat to PH and BN or PN,” he added.
Earlier this month, Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and PSM chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj declared their partnership heading into the state elections, which is set to take place on August 12.
Nominations for the six state polls have been set for July 29 while early voting will take place on August 8. – July 23, 2023