This is not about Muda’s messaging not being clearly defined but rather that Muda’s message does not resonate with a polity which has realised that the social contract is bunkum (rational non-Malays already realised this already).

Religious superiority trumps democratic imperatives, crude majoritarianism trumps minority expectations, and Tanah Melayu is under siege not only by the non-Malays but also various economic migrants (mostly Muslim) who now compete and excel in an economic terrain which the majority were told was their racial birthright.

The fact that PKR thinks Muda will chip away at its multi-racial base is demonstrative of how much trouble PKR is in because a multi-racial base is not enough to hold on to power in this country.

The fact that PN realised by defying the royalty and not being a part of this unity government should tell us how they perceive the political terrain.

Forget about moderate Malaysia. Moderate Malaysians are defined by electoral boundaries and since electoral boundaries are weighed in favour of those very people who think that PAS is a sure bet, it is pointless advocating such a position.

When Harapan and its allies were going on about how the youth vote would change the dynamics, I warned them that this was muddled thinking. 

Indeed, the fact that PAS was so enthusiastic about the vote should have told the strategists in Harapan that all was not kosher in the yet-formed Madani-ville.

Youths weary of mainstream politics

Young people, especially from the Malay community, are disenchanted with mainstream politics. They view PN as a workable alternative to the power-sharing formula which, after decades of propagandising, has taught them is to their expense.

I was reminded why Welsh remains the best analyst in town when it comes to the election game in Malaysia when I re-read her article about the youth vote.

In her piece, she wrote: “The youth boost for PN (37 percent) in GE15 was nevertheless much smaller than has been hyped in the media. It is almost the same share of youth support won by Harapan, an estimated 35 percent.”

See, that is the problem right there and something middle-class moderates fail to recognise.

The very fact that youths are divided is a problem because PN (as many PAS propagandists have told me) is relying on the religious bureaucracy, especially the federal apparatus, to make its political case.

The fact that youths are divided demonstrates that far from being overhyped, the messaging and propaganda are working. This is why I always say that Harapan’s Islamic policy must be the exact opposite of PN’s.

Young voters must be given a genuine choice, otherwise, all this talk about young voters being talked down to means bupkis because PN has already demonstrated how they would rule.

And if youths are buying that, then yes, there is something wrong with their vision for this country.

If Harapan is not addressing this issue, how can Muda even attempt to do that? Who knows, maybe hooking up with PSM may give them some insights on how to sway the Malay heartland but the reality is that the mainstream political establishment, which includes Harapan, would impede their every move.

Everyone talks about the youth vote going to the progressive forces in this country, but in recent elections, they have proven unreliable or going towards parties like Bersatu and by extension PN, rather than being the manna from heaven for Harapan.

Remember what PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said, as reported by New Straits Times on Nov 19 last year, when he assumed he and PN were going to form the next government in the last general election - “PAS would like to thank everyone, especially the young voters, for putting their trust in us and PN.”

While urban voters have been in their echo chambers, the religious industrial complex has defined “Malay” culture and preoccupations from entertainment to commerce and has normalised, especially among the young people, ideas that are anathema to secular democratic norms.

All this created #politikbaru which took everyone by surprise. And this is my issue with Muda. The party is not the fire from the Malay heartlands which seeks to disrupt the status quo. Unfortunately, that is PN.

PN has already defined, and extremely effectively, #politikbaru.