The Malaysian Insight

As the 14th general election approaches, The Malaysian Insight looks at new and young politicians who are being groomed by their parties to stand as candidates. One of the biggest grouses among the electorate is the lack of young leaders as the heads of political parties, even in the opposition, are those who have been in politics since the 1980s. Where are the young to take Malaysia forward?

STUDENT activism prepared him for the world of politics, said Amanah Youth vice-chief Shazni Munir Mohd Ithnin, who was once with Islamist party PAS and has been eyeing a role in the public sphere during his student days. 

He was a founder of Student Movement for the Abolishment of AUKU, which called for a repeal of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, a law known by its Malay acronym AUKU that restricted student participation in political activities. 

He was also a leader of the Universiti Malaya Muslim Students Association (PMIUM), as well as Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia (Gamis). Although there are no official links between Gamis and PAS, the former is known for producing some PAS Youth leaders. 

When the time came to decide on a career after graduation, Shazni decided to work for national reform through politics, instead of joining civil society as many of his peers did.

He was quickly offered a national-level post in the PAS Youth leadership but rejected it, saying he wanted to start from the bottom.

“I thought if I wanted to join a political party, I had to start from the grassroots level to understand the sentiments on the ground. 

“So that’s why I started my political activism in my area, at the Kg Jawa PAS branch in Segamat, Johor, under the Sekijang PAS division,” the 31-year-old told The Malaysian Insight.

Born in Muar, he now supports himself by teaching at a Quran school in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur which he co-owns with a few friends.

While in PAS, his first post was as Sekijang PAS Youth chief before contesting and winning the Sekijang PAS deputy division chief post in the 2015 party elections. He was also appointed as communications coordinator for PAS Youth. 

Even then and as a student, Shazni said his way of thinking and approach to politics was different from the PAS Youth leadership, which was then under Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi.

“When he (Nasruddin) led PAS Youth, I was a deputy president at Gamis. He wanted Gamis to be aligned with PAS Youth in doing activities on the ground, while the Gamis leadership at that time thought the organisation should be with the student movement to act as a check and balance on the government.”

Shazni said the Gamis leadership wanted to be able to criticise both sides of the political divide fairly, such when it spoke against the Barisan Nasional government on abuse of AUKU, which prevented students from getting involved in politics until recent amendments.

This was why he declined the offer of a national-level post, as he felt it would be a “waste of time”.

Joining Amanah, a PAS splinter party made up of progressives who were sidelined or voted out from the Islamist party’s leadership, thus came naturally.

Amanah was formed by PAS leaders who supported continued political cooperation with other opposition parties DAP and PKR. These leaders were purged from PAS at the party elections in 2015. 

“One of the reasons I joined Amanah was because the strength to reform PAS no longer exists. PAS has positioned itself as an exclusive party,” he said. 

Last year, Shazni gained some “notoriety” as one of the Pakatan Harapan youth protesters who chained and padlocked the doors of the Election Commission headquarters in Putrajaya in May after they were prevented from handing over a memorandum. He was remanded for four days. 

He is also the subject of a sedition probe over remarks about toppling the BN government.

Shazni is currently Sekijang Amanah secretary and is hoping to contest in Pemanis, one of two state seats under the Sekijang federal constituency, but PH’s seat distribution which was finalised earlier this month has changed that. 

Pemanis now goes to PKR, he said, adding that he would leave his candidacy and seat to the Amanah leadership.

Johor Amanah was only allocated two parliamentary seats – Pulai and Parit Sulong – instead of the five it sought out of the state’s 26 federal seats. 

But Sekijang Amanah will still help all PH candidates because the people and the coalition come above party interests, Shazni said.

“Because the goal is clear, we want to defeat Barisan Nasional.

“It’s easier to face the general election with Pakatan Harapan. It will be difficult if we go into the election alone.” – January 31, 2018.