Muda wants tighter rein over data centres as it seeks relevance in Johor polls

JOHOR BAHRU (July 8): For a party that started out fighting for wider youth political voices, Muda is now sharpening its focus on local issues. In Johor, it has zeroed in on the mushrooming data centres.

Officially known as Malaysian United Democratic Alliance, the party has criticised the pace of data centre developments, arguing that infrastructure planning, particularly water supply, electricity capacity and environmental impact, must keep pace with investment commitments.

“I am not against the building of any development altogether,” its president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz (pictured) told The Edge. “You can, but it cannot be at the cost of people’s daily lives.”

The party is betting that the focus on local issues can win over Johor voters as the state heads to the polls this weekend.

Muda is contesting four seats in this Johor state election — Puteri Wangsa (N.41), Bukit Batu (N.51), Maharani (N.15) and Simpang Jeram (N.13) — fewer than the seven seats it contested in the 2022 general election. The number is also smaller than that of its younger political rival, Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama), which is contesting 15 seats despite being formed only about two months ago.

In Puteri Wangsa, Bersama and Muda’s two yellow flags flutter along the roadside and appear almost identical from a distance. Only a closer look will notice that one carries the deer logo of Bersama, while the other belongs to Muda that has shifted away from its previous black branding.

“Even if Muda is not part of the government, Muda can become a check and balance,” she said. “The corridor of power is not just about government. It also involves a functional opposition.”

Muda is also worried about flash floods in urban areas of Johor as construction of public infrastructure and private projects accelerate in the third-richest state in Malaysia. Authorities should not rely solely on existing regulations that may be outdated to address emerging issues, Amira argued.

“When they say, ‘we follow guidelines’, the question is whether the guideline itself is flawed,” she said. 

Flash floods in urban areas are not only infrastructure problems but also “governance issues, including maintenance and accountability,” Amira said. She said these issues go back to Muda’s wider push for institutional reform as weak governance can contribute to failures in public services.

Muda is still closely associated with its founder and former president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman. The former youth and sports minister remained the party’s most recognisable figure, even as he continued to battle graft charges in court.

He is also the frequent subject of criticism by Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, complicating Muda’s efforts to broaden its appeal among Johor voters.

The election is not only about the number of seats that Muda is contesting but whether the party can convince voters that “a smaller party can still influence governance,” Amira argued. Muda also cannot compete financially with larger political parties.

“Politics is about numbers, and I'm not naive enough to say numbers don't matter,” she continued. “But at the end of the day, real politics has to go beyond numbers. It has to be about the quality of the candidates you put before voters.”

The Johor election has become a major political test between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH), with both coalitions contesting all 56 state seats.

Over the past days, PH has campaigned on the argument that Johor would benefit from closer alignment between the state and federal governments to ensure smoother policy implementation and development coordination.

BN, meanwhile, has focused heavily on continuity and the performance record of incumbent Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, while maintaining a relatively restrained campaign approach.

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